Went out for a walk this morning. When I go out on the streets, I go out into my quiet "zone," My walks are my form of silent mobile meditation, a rendezvous with my inner self, a stillness that is vital for reflection and appreciation, that quickly becomes a surreal and inspiring state of being. I become totally silent, totally focused; time slows down; things go into slow motion; my mind stops churning; my heart and soul start stirring; I listen. Did I say quiet and silent and still? Silly me. It's a cardio-spiritual workout. When I get into that state, my senses are sharpened. I am alert, I am attentive, I am aware, I am attuned, I notice how the simplest sound can resound astoundingly: the distant chirping of a bird, the rustling of a leaf, the gurgling of a brook, a leftover raindrop slipping off a pine needle and hitting the asphalt, the slight movement of a squirrel, the sweet scent of a flower, the pounding cadence of my steps, the pulsating lubdub of my heart, the steady rush of air through my nostrils, the rhythmic rise and fall of my chest. This morning, as always on my walks, I was reminded that the world is so full of happy, living sounds, sights, smells, touches, and tastes, but how many people hear, see, feel, and savor them, especially in the classroom? I wonder how many people walk through a day out of shape, in an out-of-focus blur, dulled daze, and bland gaze? If made me realize once again just what a miracle is. It's seeing, listening, feeling, and tasting for the first time that which is already inside, around you, and in others. And, the catalyst for the hidden usual, appearing as an unusual, is caring.
Caring: to talk or to walk. That is the choice: defining what is at stake while shaping our conceptions of ourselves and each student. We have infinite choices at our fingertips, every moment of our existence is the result of choice. And, whatever choice we choose to make, we change, the world changes, and we alter the future. You know, it’s very easy to carelessly say, "I care." Maybe it is just as easy to feign looking like you care. Caring doesn't need explanation or defense, for it speaks both from the non-rational wisdom of the heart and biological functioning of our brains. Caring is unconditionally individualizing and humanizing, not "thingifying" or "objectifying," each student. Caring is unconditionally connecting, not separating and distancing. Caring is not just what you say to a student's face, but what you say about that student behind her or his back. Caring is not condemning a student's screw-ups just because they're not like ours. No, you're not going to heal anything if you just apply a balm of empty words, glazed looks, and insincere going-through-the-motions motions. Caring is having the physical strength, emotional stamina, spiritual endurance to help a student lift up her/himself, and help her or him carry her or his dream. Caring is finding that place inside you where nothing is impossible. Caring is giving a meaningful measure of your life unconditionally to help a student have a meaningful and rewarding life. Caring is getting into your "zone" full of alertness, faith, attentiveness, hope, awareness, belief, otherness, love, and attune-ness as you walk on campus, enter the classroom, and stride through life. Caring is intensely listening to, seeing, and reading the body language, facial expressions, vocal tones of each student. It is a welding of vision and word and deed, a unconditional celebration of each student and her or his possibilities. That's crucial, for only when you believe the work you're doing is a wondrous and meaningful and significant thing, when you feel the work wondrous and meaningful and significant, the work will be transformed into energized into joyful and meaningful purpose; it will no longer be laborious, but rather a proverbial labor of love. The healthiest response in the classroom, or anywhere for that matter, is jubilation.
Sure, it is so much harder to actually walk care with sincerity and authenticity than to talk care, but you can always live the life you choose; you can choose each and every moment how to be; you can chose how to think, feel, and what to do with all the random, disturbing, uplifting occurrences that come your way. If you sincerely care, you've got to be deeply and unconditionally committed to each student; you've got to be involved and engaged; you've got to be ready to be inconvenienced and uncomfortable; you've got to be emotional, maybe even a bit quirky or "nuts." To be caring, you've got to elevate a promise laced with belief and hope and love while you map out just whom it is you care about and how to care about her or him in order than they each care about themselves. To be caring, you've got to stop trying to be perfect and looking for the perfect, but accept your fallibility and frailty as well as that of others. To be caring, you've got to tear through the veils of perception and stereotype, challenge academic convention, break from the standard operating procedure of distant lecturing, clinical testing, and cold grading. To be caring, you can't conform and be like everyone else or worry about and let yourself be held back by what they will or will not think and do. To be caring, you can't sit around in a rocking chair, but rather you've got to be on-the-move. To be caring, is to uncreate the boundaries academia has created according to degree, resume, title, position, and authority; you've got to think of yourself not as the academic scholar you were trained to be and them as students, but as a unique human being just like each student is. And, yes, to be caring, you have got to be intensely focused on uncompromising service to others and uncompromisingly live by the answers to the questions,"How can I help? How can I help all those that I come into contact with?" In the answers to those questions, caring organizes and uses the mechanics of its own accomplishment and fulfillment. And, to the measure you can do this, you then have a shot of experiencing that "aha" moment.
Does this sound dangerous and threatening? Does it sound demanding? It is! Don't like the perch out on the limb? Want that middle-of-the-road? As you answer, remember nine things. First, down here by me in South Georgia, they say that the only thing in the middle-of-the-road is a yellow stripe and roadkill. We in academia are addicted--addicted--to a form of failure free welfare-ism that offers a protective life-long insurance policy agains mishap and misstep. We are addicted--addicted--to safety over threat, security over discomfort, guarantee over risk, permission and approval over purpose and vision, compromise over dedication, comfort over inconvenience, familiarity over adventure, instant over trial-and-errot effort, stability over challenge, maintenance over innovation. Second, you and I are can attempt the climb to our peak when we know we can trust others. Students are no different. When they know you are trustworthy, when they know you sincerely care, when they know you are their safety net, they will more likely come out from the hidden corners. But, if they feel you don't care, that you're not there for them, that you're one of "them," they will spend their energy hiding, and that energy will exude in negative ways that sabotage both your efforts and theirs. Helping students to start discovering their real self happens when they feel safe, noticed, valued, and cared about. Third, for them and us, unconditional love, acceptance, belief, faith, empathy, validation, hope, support, and encouragement have everything to do with the level of performance and achievement. Fourth, self-perceptions have everything to do with performance and achievement, and unconditional caring challenges students to ask "Why do you care?" "What do you see in me that I don't?" There are so many students longing to be cared about. They're like fish desperately looking for water. Fifth, instead of negatively seeing a "problem student," why don't we positively see an "opportunity student," for we each are beings of potential. Each of our negative thoughts wounds ourselves, the other person, our institution, and society. And, you have to realize how important it is to wake each day with a song in your heart and soul rather than with a mournful dirge. Learn that you don't need happy things to happen in order to be happy Sixth, the more you conditionally care, more you "could care less," the less you do, the more your heart and soul suffer, and the less joy you experience. Seventh, the class and each student reflect your moods, and your moods spotlight your perceptions, conceptions, and assumptions; and, they, in turn, influence your feelings, thoughts, and actions. Eighth, education has a social purpose to help a student become a viable and contributing citizens and a better person, not just a drone-like credentialed worker. And finally, you will be transformed by those whom you care about.
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
Department of History http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ /\
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