Proust asks us "to see with new eyes."
One of my primary tasks as a teacher is to encourage students to take another look. A closer look.
Seeing with new eyes = imagination, innovation. And mindfulness.
Paying attention matters.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A small matter
"It is a great art to saunter." Thoreau again, about the delight of discovery, detour and digression. About not getting anywhere in particular. But in the arc of a life, suddenly necessity may call out a clear direction.
And so it took a great while to reach a point of minimal expression. More than half a lifetime.
My mantra for last year was "duct tape." I wanted to try something new.
Silence.
I imagined a 3" swathe of silver duct tape across my mouth. I became more keenly observant. I focused on the words of others, the quality of their language and thinking.
I have been re-reading Thoreau for a course I am teaching. He is full of simple ideas, or rather, complex ideas simplified. He reminds us, "Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short."
This year's mantra is simpler: Say nothing that cannot be improved upon by silence.
And so it took a great while to reach a point of minimal expression. More than half a lifetime.
My mantra for last year was "duct tape." I wanted to try something new.
Silence.
I imagined a 3" swathe of silver duct tape across my mouth. I became more keenly observant. I focused on the words of others, the quality of their language and thinking.
I have been re-reading Thoreau for a course I am teaching. He is full of simple ideas, or rather, complex ideas simplified. He reminds us, "Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short."
This year's mantra is simpler: Say nothing that cannot be improved upon by silence.
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