Posted by BNHendrickson at 12:25 PM
In the Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander, as I read chapter 5, I at times switched out conductor with educator. (I think that often times we feel like the conductor to all the various student personalities and learning levels.) As educators, we at times could boast and take too much pride in the success of our students, for example on the year end exams. But in actual reflection we the teacher's couldn't be successful without the hardworking, studious, and intelligent student, right? I love the idea of being more of a facilitator and aiding students in their success. Too many times lately have I experienced/seen students wanting to be spoon fed. And at that point what are we teaching our students by doing that? I enjoyed the scene where Maestro Guido Lobeps Gavillan and his Cuban Philharmonic Orchestra and how what he saw as failure turned into an amazing peer teaching moment. Their reactions were very similar to what I have seen numerous times in the classroom, the environment becomes energized! What a great "aha" moment.
I do feel that my overall mood/demeanor will effect the environment that I am in. If I am depressed, sad or grumpy, in my opinion I am going to bring down those with me. But if I am happy, positive and upbeat my energy is bound to rub off on those around me. I really liked the game that Roz described, "Have the Best ____ Ever." It is a good challenge and in the end will create positive results. I personally am happy 95% of the time, those around me will see me with a smile on my face, and almost always get those around me to smile back. (That is a personal mission that I seek to accomplish everyday, to make people smile!) But one thing that I find helpful is to take any situation and try to find one good thing about it! For example, say my car breaks down on the way home from work. I might say, well good news is, I don't have to cook-pizza delivered it is! You would be surprised how your mood might lighten/lift a bit. Sometimes when you have something that is bringing you down, you must first figure out what exactly it is that is holding you back. Once you have figured this out (prayed about it)
Publish Postand searched (sometimes going outside the box) for a solution. You can get past it. I agree that often times you might have to dig for that passion or tap into some of that "energy and vibrancy" of your environment to overcome this rut that you are in.
This book is being read at the perfect time of my life as sometimes I feel like I am spinning my wheels. It's really helped me to think outside the box, and remember what is important and also how to think on the more positive side. Ultimately, for me it comes down to what I value the most, and the fact that I will reach my goals, I just need to see all the possibilities in perspective.
My Response
I like your idea of finding the positive in any situation. Something that has helped me this year is to look at situations from the outside and see the humor in them. I know production/show time is always very stressful and completing this Master’s program at the same time made it twice as difficult. There were times when the students were acting crazy and I instead of getting crazy myself, I just looked at it objectively and thought, “This is really hilarious. What would I think if I was watching this from the outside and did not have a personal stake in what is going on? At times it is just chaos and madness.”
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