A Lesson from My Students

I don't often blog about work, and that is because as a teacher, I have a professional obligation to preserve my students' anonymity. However, I couldn't keep this nugget to myself. 

My students were asked to reproduce an iconic image of Barak Obama--the face of hope and optimism-- using a Grid Drawing process.  Ironically, at the onset, my students were very pessimistic about the challenge.  This is a vlog of their experience from their point-of-view.

I was blown away by their attentativeness.   Essentially, the process transcended the narrow frame of an art lesson, and as a result I became the student. In their lesson, I found so much application for my own life.  For instance, when I experience hardship, my attention converges on the obstacle before me.

Currently, I am coping with a blow dealt to me by life.  I may blog about the details later.  Right now, though, I am very much the wounded animal, that seeks safe haven in a cave somewhere to nurse my wound.  I want to detach, because detaching is innate, and doing what is innate comes easily.

However, I realize that this narrow focus puts me in a very vulnerable position, because it has the risk of isolating me from the people I care most about.  When I withdraw like this, I often fail to see the bigger picture, which is to say that my perspective is one of a lone fighter,  when the truth is the exact opposite.  I am apart of something greater than myself.

I am a mother, a wife, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a teacher, a parishioner, a citizen of my city, my state, and of the world.  I have an amazing support system that-- when I invite them in--helps me weather the storms with more tenacity. More importantly, my students' reminder makes the daunting task of coping with life on life's terms more manageable.