I feel a bit detached today…..having spent some time this morning with my Tibetan singing bowls and meditating to the sounds of Steven Halpern’s ‘Om Zone’ it feels like ‘there ain’t nothing to say that ain’t already been said.’ What a relief! And yet I’m pulled to my computer, scrambled thoughts or not!
This time it is about a news bit….’college students are using the ready-made answers from online to do their research and homework.‘
My immediate reaction was to notice…”Gee, isn’t that what a lot of us do in every part of life?” I remember my own teacher explaining to the class what ‘meanings’ are attached to different topics. Heck, he might as well have put his stuff online!
My own daily writing (I am working on some larger pieces) is sometimes mired down in “I have something others need to hear.” The writings are laden with ‘intention’ and it is heavy slogging. This is probably because ‘intent’ is more about having THEM secede to MY wishes or ‘better judgment.’ Wow! Who needs that? Where’s the soul in that?
The educator in the news clip suggested that what was missing was the student finding out ‘why’ that was the correct answer….but bottom line, the marks are given for that ‘correct’ answer.
I’ve had conversations with the younger crowd and there are some very deep thinkers in our communities. I am amazed at how much more astute they are than I was at those ages. It must be an insult to engage them with some of our ‘olden days’ ideas and assumptions about their world. Because it is after all, their world.
Sometimes it seems that having a conversation with a lot of my own peers is really only about getting re-familiarized with the words, “I already know that.” But am I sure they really know what my ‘that’ is all about? That might be the perfect place to begin the conversation, rather than end it. (Sigh)
I sometimes get trapped in my choice of words because those that are available through my participation in the conventions of society….well, they just don’t speak for me. The words I have available seem to create unintentional boundaries that tend to stifle. Sometimes, I might as well ‘copy and paste’ some stuff that seems acceptable enough to get a nod of consensus. That way we can get the conversation over with and head to the mall!
The younger folks seem to be assembling a new vocabulary. I don’t mean ‘street talk’ and that is certainly part of it. It’s really that their distinctions or context doesn’t always map our own, and we may fear them. We must fear them, or we would engage them rather than criticize them!
Why is it that all our words seem designed to separate us from each other? Goals, dreams, success, failure, community, etc. all have a connotation of ‘us’ ‘them.’ Besides, what the heck do they mean that isn’t generations old? Why don’t we stop and interact, so as to get us on the same level? Our impatience….or our ‘already knowing,’ cuts the interaction short and we are both lessened, separated and unexpressed.
Fumbling for what I want to say at times, unintended thoughts flood my mind and I feel a sense of spontaneity. Words flow without regard for any imminent criticism, or ‘analysis.’ In some circles they might be considered ‘lacking the proper logic’ but they sure feel real to me.
Often I’m surprised, “Did I write that? Must have put my ‘critical thinking’ aside for the moment!”
Likewise, the works of others, including the very young, often leave in me a sense of ‘awe.’ Again, this comes not from the words themselves but from the ‘spirit’ they display. I want that in my own words! It isn’t fluency with fancy words that I seek, even when I notice that I sometimes sell out myself for them, or for something easier to write about. When I do that, it’s obvious that none of it is mine.
To certain people in my life I can say, “Sometimes it isn’t any special words you use, but just your presence that initiates an inward investigation into my own heart and soul. Not a critical one, but like an acceptance. And not an acceptance of a lesser standard but an acceptance of my present limits, as I risk being myself in real communication with you.”
I know that’s a bit of blah, blah, blah (I couldn’t find a proper ready-made quote online. Ha!) and there is a certain sense that if we put our own standards aside just for a moment and really engage, we’d see very much more in those younger minds than at first glance.
They could make a huge contribution to our own lives. They certainly have to mine.
It is imperative that we do that, because it really matters!
Rich