Week 3 reading Chapters 4-8

This week in our reading of The Art of Possibility, we were to read chapters 5-8. The reading is proving to be quite enjoyable. I will try to describe my thoughts on each chapter here and try to answer the questions that are posed at the end of each chapter. Chapter 5 was entitled Leading from Any Chair, and I could really relate to this chapter. The authors talks about being the conductor of an orchestra and actually having input from the players as he "listened." Being a conductor and a player, the thought of this really intrigued me, and I really appreciated how he made the story so real. taking this into education might be as simple as asking a student to teach a section of a unit. This is a little different than using a cooperative learning group in that the student could actually be called upon spontaneously to see if they get it and/or have a better explanation of how something works. When someone knows what is to happen next even when they are not the leader….that means that they are a part of something bigger than maybe they even thought they were.
Chapter 6 is entitled Rule Number 6 and the whole jest of this chapter is to not take one's self so seriously. That does not necessarily mean to tell others that they are not important, but rather use humor and laughter to be a great remedy for people that take themselves too seriously. I love the line that says “No matter how confident or well-positioned this adult self appears, underneath the surface, it is weak and sees itself as marginal, at risk of losing everything.” How true is that for adults today. In the blink of an eye, things can change and we could end up with nothing. The picture that I have placed on this post represents the spiraling way that most people live their lives, but what if we all started living according to rule number 6...
Chapter 7's title is The Way Things Are,and it talks about hoe being present without resistance is what the way things are implies. If one accepts things the way they are , then they can ask "where do we go from here?" Accepting the way things are can lead to something different...something better...Hopefully not something worse. The question was asked, where am I in this, and I have had a ton of stuff go on in my life lately, but I know that it is hopefully leading to something bigger and better. I have put certain things behind me, accepted that they happened that way for a reason, and I am asking my self "What can I do now with the circumstances the way they are?" Time will tell.
Chapter 8 is entitled Giving Way to Passion,and talks about using the passion that is in all of us to it's full potential. What am I passionate about so that I can go BTFI stage? (that is the Beyond the F**k it Stage). I asked myself tat question and it immediately hit me that I am passionate about the way I have worked in this graduate program. I am proud of the things I have learned and that I am still learning. I am passionate about keeping the GPA that I have and hope to maintain it until graduation. My passion in my playing the violin has emerged again this last month. I had to learn a new pieces for an audition into the symphony that I play in. I feel like I reconnected with my instrument of 34 years and I don't ever want to lose that passion again.