If you want to succeed, embrace failure. A year ago, I would have expected such paradoxical advice to come from a Taoist monk or a Jedi master. Now, after a sabbatical year away from school, I find myself touting that same refrain as I explore questions about teaching and learning. How do I encourage the [more…]
Here’s Lookin’ at Kew, Kids
Kew are so beautiful. You can learn all sorts of things from hanging out with plants. Early in the London leg of my Europe trip, my friend Sarah took me to the Kew Royal Botanical Garden. An impressive oasis in the desert of city pavement, Kew maintains impeccably groomed, sprawling lawns, gardens, greenhouses, ponds, and [more…]
This is General Tom
Tom Rose is an odd fellow. He’s also a precious one. I met Tom almost immediately after I arrived at Findhorn this last week. With a scraggly beard, pronounced teeth, and thick glasses a bit cloudy from mist or dirt or both, he greeted each member of our group enthusiastically. Eager or perhaps nervous to [more…]
Teachings of the Elf Buddha
I hadn’t expected much from the afternoon. We’d help out with cleaning up Findhorn’s Singing Chamber, a work-in-progress earthen construction. Maybe we’d add some artistic touches if we had the chance. Little did I realize that we would work in the presence of an unexpected sage. Ian Trumbull is the kind of spritely character that [more…]
Leading Beyond Dualisms
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll take you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.” –Rumi Some people need clear direction, wandering rudderless when they don’t have [more…]
Shaking Hands With Findhorn
Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy has inspired me for years. His creations almost always activate my sense of wonder, bringing earth-based materials — twigs, stones, leaves, and water — into conversation with other natural forces — light, wind, tide, and time. His works shift as they interact with the landscape, passing through multiple evocative stages of [more…]
