I have some of the most amazing contacts on Facebook. The threads of conversation share outstanding as well as run-of-the-mill ideas...but, they are all creative aspects of ourselves and sharing with others.
This is a fantastic post: http://www.rebellesociety.com/2013/08/15/5-signs-youre-on-the-heros-journey/....
Although we all deal and respond to life's mundane aspects, many - maybe even most - of us are risking uncloaking ourselves to express our thoughts. I almost, and with a bit of humor wrote, "brazenly uncloaking" but that wouldn't be accurate because most of us still operate within parameters of give-and-take while offering our tidbits in the open air. It's true that we clarify our own inner selves when we share our creative streaks, but we also supply raw material to others in the ether.
I recently had some rehashing of the ordeal of handling bullying at my grandson's school last year. Still receiving the cold shoulder from teachers, I felt such sadness for my inability to "fit in." And yet, my grandson needed advocates to aid him. My dad who was an adjunct English Professor and then entered the corporate realm of textbook publishing, always told me, "be ever so careful how you rock the boat with teachers because they will hold it against the child." He was, of course, absolutely correct. Even so, there are times when adults have to don that hero's armor to stand for helping another.
Then, the task becomes vigilance.
I have noted a return to hierarchy valuing of professionals in my area of life. And, a fear of rocking the boat. Succumbing to this, myself, I had thought I wouldn't go to my grandson's open houses to allow distancing. I became angry about Hilary Clinton's thoughts that "it takes a village to raise a child." As "proper" as I felt my following the chain-of-command to have been during this ordeal in seeking answers for my grandson, I saw many times where "tried and true" excuses were used and even the attempt to upset our small family unit's continuity and innate credit of the dependability of goodness between generations.
Remembering an episode from "Everybody Loves Raymond," where Ray gives the "it's all about editing" toast to his newly married brother, maybe it's also about focus. It's not simply what one chooses to bring to mind, but deals with focus of intention. My grandson must go on a bit of a diet - not withholding anything, but changing portions and attention. Just perhaps this is the very core of choice. It's the volition and purposeful course that is accented in living.
There may be no way to eradicate the negativity of some of the teachers who felt that the bullying would just follow a natural curve and that I was wrong and caused undue application of awareness to their profession and school system. That may be. To me, that kind of "turning away from the problems at hand" is not only unacceptable, but cowardly. Trust is not built from acquiescence. Assured reliance on character grows from communication linked to action of accountability. Much like handling the situation of dieting.
I won't pretend it's not painful to experience the spotlight of being a pariah, but I can genuinely state that my own resolve of initiation to protect my grandson was without malice. So, I have decided to continue to be present in the school functions of my grandchildren. I'll seek that piece of Chocolate cake along the way.
We are all teachers. "The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with the sharp stick of 'truth.' " ~Dan Rather
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