Learning to make a difference.

"The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."... Marcel Proust

Have you ever noticed how life is set up as a perfect learning environment?  It comes to us in bite sized chunks -- a day, a year or a lifetime -- with a time or season for every step... for experience, for reflection, for synthesis and for rest.  We get the opportunity to do what we will, then review it, take stock, wise up.. and then go all over again.  And even though we give the transition periods dark names -- night, winter or death -- aren't these still just part of the process.. times of renewal in preparation for the next cycle of learning?

Sometimes, when we pause and reflect, we get to see life's lessons and gifts retrospectively... but it's only right here in this moment that we really learn, and access the source of what we need to create a future beyond our wildest dreams.  Life constantly tries to grab our attention and bring us into the moment, but we tend to be so enamoured with our own agenda that we're rarely present enough to see this.  This is probably what William Blake was getting at when he penned, "He who binds himself to a joy does the winged life destroy;  But he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise".

But, if we choose to show up, we discover it's the most incredible classroom.  Here  Professor Randy Pausch, with just a few weeks before his body quits, gives his last lesson on life at Carnegie Mellon. (you may get a little misty eyed in places :-))

 

If you don't have time to listen to this lecture then I'll give you the takeaway:-  "It's not about how to achieving your dreams, it's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way the dreams take care of themselves."   So let's explore this idea:

We learn best when we are happy.. not when we are thinking, or attempting to accumulate knowledge, but when we become open minded.  For sure, when we get into 'flow' there's a stream of ideas and connections that are happening, but this isn't 'thinking' as such - it's receiving.  It's doing the things we enjoy that releases the need to think.. and this allows our creative spark (our 'inner' light if you like) to shine through.  As Joseph Campbell so wisely advised - just  follow your bliss.

Really creative people recognize that the talent that flows through them is seeded from a Source far grander than their ego.  When a reporter asked the then 12- year-old tennis sensation Jennifer Capriati, “Do you intend to be the next Chris Evert?”  she answered, “No, I intend to be the first Jennifer Capriati.”  Mozart put it this way: “It is when I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer . . . that ideas flow best and most abundantly.  Whence and how they come, I know not, nor can I force them.”

If this is true, then there's really no mystery to happiness or secret to life... inspiration and joy just flow from us in the space between our thoughts.  And if we could just be who we are, in this moment, we would know that.  As Marianne Williamson put it, ".. as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”   In other words, we are what we really seek.. but no amount of reading or practice can teach us this.  Like Love, our true Self is only really know as it is expressed.  Perhaps the similarity isn't a coincidence at all. ;-)

So it's not what we do or what we say that makes the difference, but where we are coming from.  The choice is this:  We can choose to express what we think we know, or we can step back from that and come from an open mind, allowing this feeling of Truth growing within us to express itself.  And if we forget, then it's no big deal -- we'll get a chance to learn this lesson again tomorrow.  But then again, why wait?

Nick Smith -- Life 2.0

Comments

[Rosa Say]

Of all you wrote here Nick, this is what jumped off the page for me to personally deal with:
“This isn't 'thinking' as such - it's receiving. It's doing the things we enjoy that releases the need to think.. and this allows our creative spark (our 'inner' light if you like) to shine through.”

I want to make room for both (thinking and receiving), because I enjoy the thinking part too – it also makes me happy. I have always thought of the ability to think as magically dealing with the bullying of one’s ego, so that the open-mindedness can happen, with happiness then coming from the very wonder of it all.

But then again, I can easily recall many a time when my receiving just isn’t happening, and you are so right, my creativity does get stalled. It is a magnificent thought that creativity is the *usefulness* of learning.

Yours is a rich posting, and I will have to come back to it. I shall watch the video with some green tea this evening, certain that it will be a better choice than the nightly news.

[Joanna Young]

It's great to have you here writing here for the forum Nick, and there was so much in your essay I too feel I need some time to digest it. I also want to watch the lecture in full when I get time(got up to the video of him and the college kids in zero gravity!)

But this was the bit that spoke to me the most, matched by the prints with the changing of the season

"It (learning) comes to us in bite sized chunks -- a day, a year or a lifetime -- with a time or season for every step... for experience, for reflection, for synthesis and for rest."

As we've rocketed from late summer to full blown autumn in a fortnight here I've been thinking about the power of the changes of the season. It's a great time to reflect on where we've been, how we need to consolidate, what might happen next.

Joanna

[Karen Wallace]

Bravo Nick, and great to have your contribution to our forum - you have made a grand entrance indeed.

I'm going to echo Rosa and Joanna's comments and say that I need time to digest all that you have written.

I had seen the newsclip of Randy Pausch's speech earlier this week, and I wrote that quote out, sentence by sentence in my notebook for further consumption. Now you've brought it to front of mind again, I know I need to do something with it. Thank you.

[Ben Braymer]

Nice Nick,

I needed that perspective this morning. We have faced challenges this week. I really liked your quotes; "Really creative people recognize that the talent that flows through them is seeded from a Source far grander than their ego. When a reporter asked the then 12- year-old tennis sensation Jennifer Capriati, “Do you intend to be the next Chris Evert?” she answered, “No, I intend to be the first Jennifer Capriati.” Mozart put it this way: “It is when I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer . . . that ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not, nor can I force them.” They seem to sum up what so many people are always looking for, Greatness, comes from being yourself, not emulating great ones around you. Thanks again for your wisdom!

[Adam Kayce : Monk At Work]

Why is it we need reminders, so often, of what is so obvious?

I don't know... but we do. And I think this is a great one. From the quotes to the take-away message, this is a great one, Nick. Thanks for sharing.

[Nick Smith]

Ahhh.. I love your comments. And I guess this how we learn isn't it -- from the insights and connections we make... and the shared meaning that comes out of that. :-)

Thank you. It feels good to be a part of this.

[Rosa Say]

Good morning Nick. I returned to read your posting this morning, for yesterday afternoon I happened to catch the Oprah show, one in which she had invited Dr. Randy Pausch to give his lecture again. It was a special on how we all confront the inevitability of death.
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071022.jhtml?promocode=HP21

They billed the show as "A subject nobody really wants to think about, but which affects everyone" and yes, it was sad, but it was really coaching to live every moment in a more focused, present way.

So this time, in reading your words again, this was the paragraph to leap off the page, and I keep it close to color the rest of my day, a day to create better habits worth repeating: - mahalo nui Nick.

"We learn best when we are happy.. not when we are thinking, or attempting to accumulate knowledge, but when we become open minded. For sure, when we get into 'flow' there's a stream of ideas and connections that are happening, but this isn't 'thinking' as such - it's receiving. It's doing the things we enjoy that releases the need to think.. and this allows our creative spark (our 'inner' light if you like) to shine through."