Well, I bumped into another past student in my favorite DIY store. It
seems to be happening every day. Then, again, after having taught at the
University for over 46 years, maybe the entire town had gone through class with
me. Anyway, this past student, whom I'll call James, and I had a brief
conversation. "You always kept cool and were calmly positive no matter what
anyone did or said, or whatever happened. It was something to watch. You
calmed things down and let a peace come over the class at the beginning of
class by having us close our eyes and silently listen to music for a minute or
two. You know why you made a difference? It wasn't just because you were
different; it was because you made that difference into something peaceful and
caring, and that always caught our eyes and kept our attention. The class was
always busy, but it was a peaceful busy. Sometimes I could swear that
peacefulness was a core teaching strategy of yours."
"It was," I answered, "for class, and for life."
So, still feeling a lingering Yom Kippur hangover of quiet and peaceful
self-reflection, there I was, peacefully sitting by the koi pond this "cool"
morning as the sun's dawning rays and pushed away night's darkness, slowly
sipping a freshly brewed cup of coffee, starting to put on a game face for a
presentation I'm giving next week in Montgomery, thinking about "peacefulness"
It was a silent but attentive listening to the pond's three waterfalls, the
sounds of dripping water from my newly built patio water fountain in the
background adding to the soothing, quieting music.
"Peacefulness." Actually, I've been especially thinking about it a lot
these past four months as Susie's struggled to regain the sight in her left eye
and to deal with the ravages of withdrawing from untold large doses of
prednisone. My caring for her and worry about her have been assaults on my
inner peacefulness. To fend off that attack, I had to find a respite, a place
far away from the fears and tears while gladly being close-by and close at hand
to be there for Susie at the drop of a hat whenever she needed me. So, over
the past few months, with a deliberate slowness, I used a strategy of
peacefulness. I would meditate on my walks; I would sit quietly by the pond;
and, I would lose myself in imagination and creativity by designing, building,
and landscaping a water fountain complex on and over the stump of the large
pine tree we had to take down in the middle of our patio. And, then, came the
introspective times of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
You know, the opposite of activity is not peacefulness. Peacefulness
is not withdrawal; it is not stagnation; it is not disconnection; it is not
disengagement. It is a way of putting everything in its proper place. That
is, as the Talmud says, Did you seek wisdom and did you understand one thing
from another? Did you ask questions about your life experience that led you to
wisdom? Did your analysis lead you to understanding? Did you use this wisdom
to make good choices? Were those choices based on the right priorities? Did
you understand what mattered and did you lead a life that mattered?
And so, Talmudic tradition says that "peacefulness" is the noblest leg
of the tripod upon which the world rests. Peacefulness helps us confronted
with the questions of how to really live, and not merely exist. It's like
peacefulness is a place where the unique and beautiful and sacred "now" is
deliberately lived. Peacefulness is the glue that offers the opportunity to
fasten the purposeful "why" to give meaning to the "how" and the "what."
Peacefulness is not just a time set aside for reflection, meditation,
or introspection. It's an always. It's a way of living, a song to be
constantly sung, dance to be consistently danced, painting to be forever
painted. Peacefulness is a conscious disconnection from what is going on to
find a deeper connection with the meaning and purpose to what is going on.
Peacefulness is a mindfulness that takes the mindless and uncaring bull out
from the china shop. It's like holding our lives up to the light like a
multifaceted jewel, that catches the light at thousands of different angles:
the more we examine it, the more it reveals, and the more we value its beauty.
Peacefulness is powerful breaking system that has the strength to relax
the tense, calm the anxiety, slow the racing, and sharpen the blurriness.
Peacefulness is eco-friendly. It conserves energy; it increases your
mileage. It is the doing of anything without conflict or friction. You don't
have to waste time fighting against yourself; you don't tire yourself out
running up against negativities; you don't sap yourself by constantly having to
shore up your guard against naysayers; you don't have a debilitating fear of
being broken by the forces of "what will they think." It is your shock
absorbers that smoothens the rides in spite of potentially jostling bumps and
ruts in the road. When the world about you becomes cold, it gives off a
protective warmth. It provides a light that shines the way through the
darkness. It allows you to focus when life seems aimless. It provides a
clarity when everything appears to be confused. It offers encouragement and
hope in desperate situations. It provides a calmness and patience when things
and people around you are hectic, frantic, and frenzied.
Yeah, I know I'm being poetic, but in that poetry is a reality and
practicality. For when all is said and done, peacefulness gives you a
relaxation, flexibility, and, above all, a resiliency with which you can take
blow after blow after blow coming from any and all directions, handle all
challenges hurled at you by anyone or anything, overcome all barriers erected
to block your way, continue to feel good when things aren't going well, be
adaptable in what you do while remaining true to your values, and recharging
the batteries that allow you to spring back to go on.
You know the question of why we live, how we create our lives, what we
do with our lives is not a story of something made from nothing; it is
somethings that come from all the other somethings. We never throw out our
memories and experiences; the love, the loss, the gain, the accomplishment, the
failure, the laughter, the crying, the joy, the sorrow, the very all of our
lives are all there within us. We examine them, reshape them, rebuild them,
and tell about them so that they can be meaningful in the long run. Like it or
not, consciously or otherwise, we all make our way through our lives, and
chance and growth happens because we learn consciously from past experiences,
from our constant inquiry into where we have fallen short, what weakness we
must shore up, what accomplishments we must strengthen, and what might we do
better. Peacefulness offers the chance for us to make new somethings, to see
and understand the real joys, meaning, and purpose of whatever we do. It
affords the opportunity to ask the right questions right questions and examine
the life we live. And, lets us understand how we can choose to live our lives
this day, this hour, this moment. That is what Socrates meant when he said
that the unexamined life is not really living. Same goes for that part of life
we call "teaching." Yeah, there is more than a lot to be said about constantly
and calmly stepping back so you can clearly see where you have stepped, where
we're about to step, and can step forward.
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\
/\
/^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__
/ \ / \
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/ / \ /\ \
//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
\_/__\ \
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" - / \_
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