I have so many who come to mind, but my 1st tai chi teacher just emanated joy! She glowed from the inside outward so it was contagious.
Her gift to me was a realization that the outer world doesn’t create the joy in a person, it is the interior life that cultivates joy.
Your tai chi teacher
gave you a very powerful,
life changing gift,
dear Cathie . . .
it is only right
that you hold it to your heart
the way you do.
Namaste . . . ♥
There are so many, and the important ones are those who at sch00l inspired to cultivate learning and for example important to me was to develop a sense for colors, for art and its techniques and its expressions, or by personal example inspired to cultivate values like expressed lately when having shared here about Martin Luther King Jr.,, people of kind and loving heart. I am ever so grateful to have had the chance of such an abundance conveyed by dedicated and enthusiastic kindred hearts, and so by example helped to go deep, as well to also open and f0llow my heart as good as possible, be kind and share also for the sake of all what I am possibly are able to share. Nature taught me about Peace and perseverance, about being its friend and the trees being friends with me and us all when as a child, I climbed the beech tree and felt safe and held securely in its branches; and as Antoinette mentioned the gift of liberation from dependency, its painful prison for myself and the other, and dependent perception which is work in progress, initiated by my teacher and supported by so many. Currently I am taught to let go, which at times is extremely painful when, like for many also, it comes to having to let go of my dear teacher also. For the sake of liberation of all unhealthy bonds, I know I have to face it, which almost breaks my heart. Beyond this, I don´t know. Thank you all dearly.
I believe
that every one and every thing
teaches and has taught me things throughout my life.
The lessons are not always clear when I received them . . .
nor are they identifiable to their source
by the time I learn the lesson.
Sometimes
I need many teachers
who all teach me the same thing
because I don’t learn it well the first time.
They range from kind to cruel,
from loving to cold,
from met to unmet . . .
reading the wisdom of others.
You
here,
are the people I interact with
most vulnerably
and I learn something of your wisdom
every day.
I’ve learned from Nature
in all her many forms,
and found a home there,
in that place of absolute truth
amidst moss and birds and trees,
along with mosquitoes and poison ivy.
Learning to take the negative with the positive
is a powerful thing.
I’ve learned
and am still learning
how to live,
love,
and let go,
and have studied the writings
of great spiritual masters,
as well as the not so great.
During a very painful time in my life,
when the words of others couldn’t reach me
no matter how hard I tried to listen,
I read ‘A New Earth’
by Eckhart Tolle,
and suddenly the smog cleared away in my head,
and everything I had read and heard and felt
fell into place,
opening a door inside of me
that I gladly walked through . . .
into a new existence
with more clarity than I had had
ever before in my life,
even when on mild altering drugs.
I continue to live in this place
with new ears
and new eyes,
and even new skin,
hungry for more,
yet at peace
with where I am
because I know
that I am right where I am supposed to be. ♥
My mom and my mother-in-law are the important teachers in my life. The gift they passed on to me is the heart of kindness. They are not wealthy in material possessions, but their lives are full of joy because they are happy in the act of sharing with others in hardships.
My mom comes to mind first. She taught me empathy, kindness, caring, and an understanding of privilege before that was in the public discourse, along with practical skills like cooking, sewing, and wrapping presents with neatly folded flaps and pretty ribbon treatments.
Both my parents instilled the belief in civic participation and community service that has guided me in so many avenues of volunteerism and career choices. They gardened extensively and I learned that by doing it with them.
My maternal grandmother taught me to knit, bowl, and tat (although I don’t remember much of that skill), and that if a major chapter of your life ends you can go on to live a whole new book.
This question can prompt thoughts about life lessons from people we meet. I’ll take it very literally as an opportunity to remember Mrs. Olsen, my piano teacher; Mrs. Baker, the music teacher at my grade school; Mrs. Hines in fifth grade, who taught art lessons after school; Mrs. Pillar in sixth grade, who answered a student’s question about race with such clarity and insight that I’ve remembered it all my life (and I’m still amazed this happened in a country school in Idaho); Mrs. Jydstrup, my high school teacher for Writing for College who took a good young writer and gave her a lot more skill; Mr. Traynor, who taught AP History and coached our High School Bowl quiz team that I captained (for a local TV show!); and much later Dr. Rosanne London in the master’s in public administration program I graduated from at Eastern Washington University, a model of a woman in academia, and Dr. Nicholas Lovrich at Washington State University, my advisor for the PhD I didn’t finish.
Teachers all, and I hope to honor the lessons in what I pass on to my children and the people around me.
Life itself has been an important teacher. I wish I had known that sooner and had been taking notes. Creation and all of nature has been and is an important teacher. I’m saddened by those who have not or choose not to learn from it. History has been an important teacher. Oh, how we must pay attention to the lessons of history. Other cultures and societies are such interesting and diverse teachers, opening up the world of possibilities to me. My own fears, shame, guilt and anger; and my joys, humor and delights are teachers in their own way. A person who was in a Bible Study I was leading once said that he thought the whole purpose of life is learning. I’ve never forgotten that.
I have learned so much, from such an assortment of people. Some of the most valuable lessons are of others mistakes, missteps, bad decisions, or just choices that I have vowed to try and avoid. By their example, I have been given a roadmap of sorts.
A map of the minefield.
On the other hand, there are people that I want to emulate or follow their example of how I would
like to live. They have come along at the right moment or in the exact situation, where their advice, or more often, their example, has given me a guidepost.
As I think about it, it’s really dependent on my ability to be open and willing to accept these gifts. The lessons are all around. It’s a balancing act of receiving and using my intellect to weed out the nonsense. Anything can be true, but it’s a matter of weighing the likelihood and using my lived experience to weigh the odds of something being true or helpful for me.
I had a history teacher in Jr high school, his name was Glenn Watanabe. His most valuable lesson, for me, was of critical thinking. He challenged us to consider and weigh all viewpoints. To question the information and to consider the source of the information. This was at a time in my life, that I was questioning everything, and it gave me some tools that I use to this day. I sure would like to thank him for his gift. So thank you, Glen Watanabe. 🙏
Brandon Barthrop is the RLM Community Discord leader. He has been an important teacher in my life. Healing is a gift he has passed on to me. Reading the intel briefings he has put out has gotten through to my heart and head.
The reading on “The 2 Governments” stand out. Self-government is where basic worldly desires like autonomy lie. Self-government and autonomy go together. Being under the government of God is where true autonomy and healing happens.
I was just talking about this! I have wayyy too many.
The most impactful was absolutely my last math teacher, Frank, and 8th grade teacher Mrs. Palmese. Mrs. Palmese molded me into a strengthened version of myself I did not know existed, she protected me from a slightly abusive ex little boyfriend, she held me when I cried over it, she academically changed my thinking. There is not enough I could say about her, just an amazing woman overall.
and Frank. Frank gave me hope lol. I felt like math was a bit extra for me to grasp vs. other subjects in school, but he was so patient and found what worked for me. He pushed me and he helped me WANT to do math and continue school ( I was on the verge of being a drop out ). He is one of the ONLY reasons I graduated a year early vs. being another statistic!
The list is very long. I appreciate the wisdom each has given me.
Currently, my companions on the grief journey. The people I have met on line and in person. The many authors, speakers, and group leaders. Again it is an example of “we are in this together alone “
Thinking about my current mentor, they’ve taught me a lot about not being afraid of the dark. You have to shine a flashlight on a thing in order to heal. If that thing happens to be a house of horrors, well, what kind of creatures are in there? What are the sound effects? At some point, the house of horrors boils down to familiar techniques, and I can see where my responses need work. The process has been liberating, to nod to today’s quote.
There’ve been many teachers and mentors. Who continues to be a teacher, from her place in the Light is Elizabeth OP. A Dominican Sister I walked with for years as a spiritual companion. She validated the role of the Holy Spirit in my life, as manifested in the Energy and Power of Sophia. She journeyed with me as I was led to creating the simple prayer, “my intention is to Trust.” I define this as Trusting Infinite God and not my finite self. Today in US is Juneteenth. May we continue to work for the day when all are free from enslavement. ☮️
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I have so many who come to mind, but my 1st tai chi teacher just emanated joy! She glowed from the inside outward so it was contagious.
Her gift to me was a realization that the outer world doesn’t create the joy in a person, it is the interior life that cultivates joy.
Your tai chi teacher
gave you a very powerful,
life changing gift,
dear Cathie . . .
it is only right
that you hold it to your heart
the way you do.
Namaste . . . ♥
There are so many, and the important ones are those who at sch00l inspired to cultivate learning and for example important to me was to develop a sense for colors, for art and its techniques and its expressions, or by personal example inspired to cultivate values like expressed lately when having shared here about Martin Luther King Jr.,, people of kind and loving heart. I am ever so grateful to have had the chance of such an abundance conveyed by dedicated and enthusiastic kindred hearts, and so by example helped to go deep, as well to also open and f0llow my heart as good as possible, be kind and share also for the sake of all what I am possibly are able to share. Nature taught me about Peace and perseverance, about being its friend and the trees being friends with me and us all when as a child, I climbed the beech tree and felt safe and held securely in its branches; and as Antoinette mentioned the gift of liberation from dependency, its painful prison for myself and the other, and dependent perception which is work in progress, initiated by my teacher and supported by so many. Currently I am taught to let go, which at times is extremely painful when, like for many also, it comes to having to let go of my dear teacher also. For the sake of liberation of all unhealthy bonds, I know I have to face it, which almost breaks my heart. Beyond this, I don´t know. Thank you all dearly.
I believe
that every one and every thing
teaches and has taught me things throughout my life.
The lessons are not always clear when I received them . . .
nor are they identifiable to their source
by the time I learn the lesson.
Sometimes
I need many teachers
who all teach me the same thing
because I don’t learn it well the first time.
They range from kind to cruel,
from loving to cold,
from met to unmet . . .
reading the wisdom of others.
You
here,
are the people I interact with
most vulnerably
and I learn something of your wisdom
every day.
I’ve learned from Nature
in all her many forms,
and found a home there,
in that place of absolute truth
amidst moss and birds and trees,
along with mosquitoes and poison ivy.
Learning to take the negative with the positive
is a powerful thing.
I’ve learned
and am still learning
how to live,
love,
and let go,
and have studied the writings
of great spiritual masters,
as well as the not so great.
During a very painful time in my life,
when the words of others couldn’t reach me
no matter how hard I tried to listen,
I read ‘A New Earth’
by Eckhart Tolle,
and suddenly the smog cleared away in my head,
and everything I had read and heard and felt
fell into place,
opening a door inside of me
that I gladly walked through . . .
into a new existence
with more clarity than I had had
ever before in my life,
even when on mild altering drugs.
I continue to live in this place
with new ears
and new eyes,
and even new skin,
hungry for more,
yet at peace
with where I am
because I know
that I am right where I am supposed to be. ♥
I’d rather be here now. ☀️
Me too,
dear Joseph. ♥
Woo Myung of course! The method to liberate me from all of this is his legacy. I’m so grateful. ☺️
My mom and my mother-in-law are the important teachers in my life. The gift they passed on to me is the heart of kindness. They are not wealthy in material possessions, but their lives are full of joy because they are happy in the act of sharing with others in hardships.
No better reason to live,
dear Ngoc . . . ♥
My mom comes to mind first. She taught me empathy, kindness, caring, and an understanding of privilege before that was in the public discourse, along with practical skills like cooking, sewing, and wrapping presents with neatly folded flaps and pretty ribbon treatments.
Both my parents instilled the belief in civic participation and community service that has guided me in so many avenues of volunteerism and career choices. They gardened extensively and I learned that by doing it with them.
My maternal grandmother taught me to knit, bowl, and tat (although I don’t remember much of that skill), and that if a major chapter of your life ends you can go on to live a whole new book.
This question can prompt thoughts about life lessons from people we meet. I’ll take it very literally as an opportunity to remember Mrs. Olsen, my piano teacher; Mrs. Baker, the music teacher at my grade school; Mrs. Hines in fifth grade, who taught art lessons after school; Mrs. Pillar in sixth grade, who answered a student’s question about race with such clarity and insight that I’ve remembered it all my life (and I’m still amazed this happened in a country school in Idaho); Mrs. Jydstrup, my high school teacher for Writing for College who took a good young writer and gave her a lot more skill; Mr. Traynor, who taught AP History and coached our High School Bowl quiz team that I captained (for a local TV show!); and much later Dr. Rosanne London in the master’s in public administration program I graduated from at Eastern Washington University, a model of a woman in academia, and Dr. Nicholas Lovrich at Washington State University, my advisor for the PhD I didn’t finish.
Teachers all, and I hope to honor the lessons in what I pass on to my children and the people around me.
Life itself has been an important teacher. I wish I had known that sooner and had been taking notes. Creation and all of nature has been and is an important teacher. I’m saddened by those who have not or choose not to learn from it. History has been an important teacher. Oh, how we must pay attention to the lessons of history. Other cultures and societies are such interesting and diverse teachers, opening up the world of possibilities to me. My own fears, shame, guilt and anger; and my joys, humor and delights are teachers in their own way. A person who was in a Bible Study I was leading once said that he thought the whole purpose of life is learning. I’ve never forgotten that.
I believe the whole purpose of life is learning, too. And there are so many lessons!
I’ll add the line I’ve heard a few times recently: If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not learning.
I have learned so much, from such an assortment of people. Some of the most valuable lessons are of others mistakes, missteps, bad decisions, or just choices that I have vowed to try and avoid. By their example, I have been given a roadmap of sorts.
A map of the minefield.
On the other hand, there are people that I want to emulate or follow their example of how I would
like to live. They have come along at the right moment or in the exact situation, where their advice, or more often, their example, has given me a guidepost.
As I think about it, it’s really dependent on my ability to be open and willing to accept these gifts. The lessons are all around. It’s a balancing act of receiving and using my intellect to weed out the nonsense. Anything can be true, but it’s a matter of weighing the likelihood and using my lived experience to weigh the odds of something being true or helpful for me.
I had a history teacher in Jr high school, his name was Glenn Watanabe. His most valuable lesson, for me, was of critical thinking. He challenged us to consider and weigh all viewpoints. To question the information and to consider the source of the information. This was at a time in my life, that I was questioning everything, and it gave me some tools that I use to this day. I sure would like to thank him for his gift. So thank you, Glen Watanabe. 🙏
Brandon Barthrop is the RLM Community Discord leader. He has been an important teacher in my life. Healing is a gift he has passed on to me. Reading the intel briefings he has put out has gotten through to my heart and head.
The reading on “The 2 Governments” stand out. Self-government is where basic worldly desires like autonomy lie. Self-government and autonomy go together. Being under the government of God is where true autonomy and healing happens.
I was just talking about this! I have wayyy too many.
The most impactful was absolutely my last math teacher, Frank, and 8th grade teacher Mrs. Palmese. Mrs. Palmese molded me into a strengthened version of myself I did not know existed, she protected me from a slightly abusive ex little boyfriend, she held me when I cried over it, she academically changed my thinking. There is not enough I could say about her, just an amazing woman overall.
and Frank. Frank gave me hope lol. I felt like math was a bit extra for me to grasp vs. other subjects in school, but he was so patient and found what worked for me. He pushed me and he helped me WANT to do math and continue school ( I was on the verge of being a drop out ). He is one of the ONLY reasons I graduated a year early vs. being another statistic!
❤️
The list is very long. I appreciate the wisdom each has given me.
Currently, my companions on the grief journey. The people I have met on line and in person. The many authors, speakers, and group leaders. Again it is an example of “we are in this together alone “
Many – gifts of learning, love, honesty, integrity, work ethics, humor, humility. We learn from everyone pretty much.
My mentor for over 27 years, Jim A (RIP). He taught me to own my thoughts, feelings and actions.
Thinking about my current mentor, they’ve taught me a lot about not being afraid of the dark. You have to shine a flashlight on a thing in order to heal. If that thing happens to be a house of horrors, well, what kind of creatures are in there? What are the sound effects? At some point, the house of horrors boils down to familiar techniques, and I can see where my responses need work. The process has been liberating, to nod to today’s quote.
There’ve been many teachers and mentors. Who continues to be a teacher, from her place in the Light is Elizabeth OP. A Dominican Sister I walked with for years as a spiritual companion. She validated the role of the Holy Spirit in my life, as manifested in the Energy and Power of Sophia. She journeyed with me as I was led to creating the simple prayer, “my intention is to Trust.” I define this as Trusting Infinite God and not my finite self. Today in US is Juneteenth. May we continue to work for the day when all are free from enslavement. ☮️
Yes Carla, all should be free,