Tag Archive for heroes

Saturday and Coco Chanel

08/11/2009 Joh learn, relationships

“How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. ” Coco Chanel

I watched a DVD about Coco Chanel yesterday. It was beautiful. She was really a feminist in that she freed women from restrictive clothing. She also was driven to live independently and follow her own passions. I had no idea. I have to admit I’ve never been especially interested in fashion designers. I have thought it to be a bit superficial. I enjoyed the film, which was for the most part a love story.

Darin has started a new job as a chef and was working so I had a day to indulge myself. I love hearing about what he has cooked.

I have a bit of a chest infection so I just quietly pottered around the house yesterday. I love this beautiful sunshine. Today we are heading for the sea.

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Concerned Parents

18/11/2008 Joh gratitude

Tom has been great this week. Last night I came home to a beautifully cleaned home. Granted most of the mess was his, but it was so lovely to arrive home to after a really busy day. Today he has gone on a long drive to spend a couple of days with a friend who lives over 200kms away. I was so grateful when he called me to say he’d arrived safely. I don’t want to wish my life away, but I must say I will be relieved when he returns from ‘schoolies’. He’s off to Queensland the day after his graduation dinner.

This week I’ve had a number of parents contact me for interviews. There are barely three weeks to go for this term. I find it interesting. They are not coming to see me about reports or academic issues. They are genuinely concerned about their children. I am only going to be in their child’s life for another few weeks. I feel complimented they think I can make difference in this time, yet I am not sure I can. There is so much going on in the private lives of our students. It overwhelms me to think about it sometimes.

On a brighter note, I got to tell a mum today her daughter had talked very glowingly about her during her oral presentation this week. She was dropping her daughter’s lunch into school and I’m sure it was the last thing she was expecting to hear from me. The final oral assignment for year 9 students at school is on the topic ‘Á Person I Admire’. So many students choose a parent, grandparent or member of their family. I love telling their parents. Having lived through year 9 with my own children, and knowing how embarrassing you are to them, how little you know about anything it comes as a shock to know your child admires you underneath all that. They are always delighted to hear this. I am always very moved by the way many students speak to me about their families. In fact the majority of students I see at school think very highly of their parents.  They care quite a lot what their parents think of them. Believe it or not….

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Mary Stewart 21/11/1929-25/10/2008

02/11/2008 Joh gratitude, learn

Mary was my yoga teacher. I only learnt this weekend of her passing and I feel quite stunned about it. I didn’t realise she was that age, I would have expected her to be 20 years younger. She was always so energetic and looked amazing for her age. She moved closer to her family in recent years, so I hadn’t seen her for a while.

I had my first yoga class with her when I was 15. At the Catholic girls school I attended, we had one class we could choose a week and yoga was one of the offerings. I loved it. My friend Jane and I picked it every time and when we could no longer do it at school, would attend her evening classes. Sometimes our mum’s would come, but sometimes not. She was so patient and yet held a dignified space with our giggles and restlessness. We made progress and both of us still value and practise yoga. I am grateful for the flexibility of my body from those practices she taught us.

Every exam I’ve ever had to do, I’ve been thankful of learning about breath from Mary to remain focussed and calm. I’ve never experienced stress or anxiety about tests, having such a great tool to call on. My daughter used a relaxation tape of Mary’s for many stressful times also, she got it from my mum who also loved Mary’s classes.

I remember when I returned here I went to her for massage for a while and went back to classes that she held at school for teachers after hours. She was such a knowledgeable and wise woman. I really appreciate all she has taught me and I wish I’d told her what a gift she was to my life. My condolences to her family. Her tribute notice captures beautifully her great spirit. “Love is the glue that holds the world together”. 

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MIFF: Kate Bush Under Review

26/07/2008 Joh music

Last night after work I headed to the city to see the film ‘Kate Bush Under Reveiw”, which I discovered last weekend whilst browsing what was offered at the Melbourne International Film Festival. I loved Kate Bush from the first time I saw ‘Wuthering Heights’ and have purchased every album she released as soon as possible. I’ve found few friends who have enjoyed her as I have, but as one of the Kate Bush commentators said last night, her music is really personal and probably not something you would sit around and enjoy with friends. I think she is an amazing creative person, who has focussed on her art and expression and I just love the experience of listening to her music.

I’ll review the documentary on ‘Falling Brick’. I want to comment here, how annoying I found the audience. I think the control freaky teacher in me was rising throughout the evening. I had to fight the urge to stand up, turn around and ask them all to leave and meet me in my office at lunchtime. The inappropriate laughter everytime the words sexual or sensual were mentioned, was what I would expect from 15 year 0ld students. I wonder if they had any idea about what they were coming to see and just couldn’t get tickets for the footy or what? It irritated me no end. The giggles became infectious and the collective group of fools began laughing about all kinds of trivial things. What were they expecting? I felt embarassed to be amongst them.

I enjoyed the documentary style film. I was familiar with the time periods and have purchased the DVD from Amazon this morning so I can enjoy it in peace. There were some interesting comments and reflections made that I would like to hear, without kidlike cackling. I think I am becoming anti-social.

It is going to show again in Melbourne so if you are a fan, check it out here. If not, find something else to amuse yourself with. Grrr

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R. Buckminster Fuller

25/01/2008 Joh learn

One of my heroes for the past 12 years has been ‘Bucky’. I heard a very moving story about Bucky at a course I once attended called ‘Money and You’ in 1992, and promptly went out and read his book ‘Critical Path’. It was life-changing. I was told it was really hard to read because Bucky had a vocabulary that wasn’t easy to find in a dictionary, but I found it really enjoyable to read, so got through it without pain. The only thing that slowed me down was the amount of reflection and insight it offered me. I promise myself I will reread it again soon.

Many things about Bucky really resonate with me. His early life and later redemption are inspiring. I love the way he chronicled and recorded his life and thought of it as an experiment. I cherish the story about him dying beside his wife, although the facts as written by his daughter are here. It’s near enough and I never read that story without shedding a tear.

I learnt a lot from his book ‘Education Automation’ and it changed some of my ideas about teaching and learning. I attended Jerry Speiser’s course “Future By Design” based around Bucky’s work and learnt lots more about applying some of Bucky’s thought to my life. We learnt about applying generalised principles to life. I learnt much about Physics in that course. Jerry has mentioned a book based on this course so I hope he hurries up. I have read small parts of it and I think it would be a great resource.

He invented the Dymaxion Map and I have it on the wall in my office to remind me how close we all are on this ‘Spaceship Earth’. He introduced me to “Repetition Leads to Discovery”, which I have hammered into my students over the years until they reached groaning point, so I don’t think they’ll forget it.  

He was a poet, inventor, architect, designer and many other things.  More things than I could write about in a blog post, so if you want to know more about Bucky, The Buckminster Fuller Institute is the place to go.

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Go Girls

19/01/2008 Joh gratitude, health, reading

Today’s Age has a great article on true girl power: Sick of impossible princesses, real girls fight back. This type of news gives me great pleasure. Poor self image is very invasive this culture of unhealthy beauty. I will rest on this issue when I see normal images in the media and not distorted, air brushed, superficial, insane role models for young people. You don’t have to look very far to find a young person in desperate need exploited by the media (think Britney, Corey for recent examples).

I remember my dad once remarking to me that I shouldn’t look to ‘pop’ culture for real advice or for models of behaviour unless I wanted to be a singer or an actress. He had a rant about how they are not qualified to be role models in anything other than what they excelled at. Whilst at the time I though he just didn’t understand what it meant to be cool, I began to not be interested in the private lives of artists. I began to just appreciate what they were offering, the music, the acting, the art. My pa also used to say “Why don’t these great scientists have fan clubs? They are really doing great things.” They were right and I think these comments have influenced me to look for a little more in my heroes.

I also noticed on the ‘Little Losers’ campaign (Row over Lewd Clothes for Kids) which has been picked up by many bloggers such as Megan at Imaginif Jay Jay’s is the little loser, yesterday’s Herald Sun had a small article about the response from Jay Jays : Jay Jays responds to tee criticism. This is a win!

Authors like Anthea Paul and her empowering ‘Girlosophy’ series are making a difference. Light is shining on this manipulation and people are waking up to the hidden messages we are saturated with. There is a power in speaking up. I want to do more of it in 2008. I hope you do too!

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‘The Girlo Travel Survival Kit’ by Anthea Paul

10/01/2008 Joh reading, travel

‘The Girlo Travel Survival Kit’ is released this month and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. If it’s anything like her previous books, it will be a precious addition to my library. I know I’m a bit old to consider myself a girl, but somewhere on the inside, I must be because I have taken a big liking to the Girlosophy series.  Anthea Paul writes such good common sense. She writes about living with spirit and awareness and I love it.

If you get the opportunity to hear Anthea speak, whilst she is promoting this book, I recommend you take your daughter. I wish I’d had mine with me, as well as every other young woman I knew, when I heard her talk last year. She is passionate and articulate. She has a very powerful and important message about self esteem and living. Her experiences make her very credible. She’s just fabulous.

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Who Do Teens Admire?

24/11/2007 Joh gratitude

This week in my year 9 English class, students were delivering prepared oral presentations on the subject “A Person I Admire”. I love this assignment. Every year, I have been delighted as students have usually prepared well and revealed the heroes in their lives.

Most years there are a couple of ‘celebrity’ heroes and they have predominantly been sporting and entertainment heroes until this year. I was delighted with the ‘famous’ heroes chosen this year, social activists, business people doing extraordinary things and courageous survivors were the only ‘personally unknowns’ in the speeches. This is really important to me because I feel young people need real role models. Role models that are worthy of their admiration and worth imitating.

Most students select a family member. Grandparents, mothers, fathers, aunts, brothers and sisters are all the people most looked up to by teenagers over the 6 years I have been teaching year 9 English. The love and gratitude the teenagers express in these speeches are precious. Whenever I can, I let parents know this because I wonder if they realise how much their young person appreciates and respects them.Usually they are surprised.

Tears came to my eyes in class a few times whilst listening to the speeches as they were so touching. As I looked around the room, some of the students were feeling similarly moved. I felt proud this class has created such a safe learning environment that they can share their passions and express their emotions within it. It feels human to me.

Because I can.
Comment, because YOU can.

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Girlosophy and Anthea Paul

12/11/2007 Joh health, reading

Last night I went to see Anthea Paul speak at the Gippsland Womens Health Annual General Meeting in Sale. She is one of the most engaging speakers I have listened to, in a long time. I was very overtired and nearly didn’t bother – I’m so pleased I did!

It helped that her message is exactly the kind of message I try to get out to my students every day. It’s easy to like someone who agrees with you :-) . Yet seriously, there is a woman who is a fitting role model for young women. She is passionate, intelligent and articulate. She recognises true beauty and spirit for what it is and casts all imitations offered to young women today aside.

Anthea has written a series of books for young women, which I will be purchasing and reading. I will no doubt share them here, when I am done. Her message is worthy and I intend to take it up. She is currently visiting a number of schools and communities in Gippsland, so if you have the opportunity to see her, do whatever it takes to get there. Take your daughter!

Because I can.
Comment, because YOU can.

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Doris Lessing wins Nobel Prize for Literature

11/10/2007 Joh reading

I am delighted Doris Lessing has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. She is the 11th woman to win the prize since it began in 1901. Her novel “The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five” is one of my all time favourite novels and it quite transformed me when I read it in my early 20s. I have only read a couple of other novels by Lessing, but this is a good reminder to read some more!

Because I can.
Comment, because YOU can.

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