Stop Moments are Starting

Entering  term three with Lyn(n) Fels as the latest addition to our faculty mentors, I silently wonder if she has been warned  about us and how we behave in class.   She's already made us rearrange the furniture so they are not in a tidy square.  I may have issues with this and my need for order, but let it go, Mary-Ann, let it go. I did not run screaming from the room, so I may be able to work through this.  One aspect of evaluation this term is a postcard representation of 'stop' moments, or what Miriam-Webster defines as the  "aha moment" made famous by Oprah.  Seriously, this woman has her own word in the dictionary, but I digress.   As we do our readings, or talk in class, we may have one of these 'stop/aha/I just got it" moments and we are to find a photo to match, write a letter to the class, and voila, we have a postcard.  Send it off to everyone and enjoy the snippets that others in the class have found post card worthy and have forwarded to us for our enjoyment.

So this week I did two.  Not because I am a keener, but because I am indecisive and was slightly bored this week.   I suppose I could have taken the time to cook or clean, but as you may have observed in my previous entry,  cooking is not mentioned anywhere in my procrastination techniques, and cleaning is reserved for when I have something more urgent to do.

So, here is my first attempt:

"Awareness throws us into an open lit space"
Myers "Teaching Practices of Living Inquiry" pg 6
Photo: Sunrise in Masset BC February 2014, taken by MA McKinnon

Hi Everyone:

I love those stop moments when I see, hear or read something that reconnects me to a purpose. “Awareness throws us into an open lit space”,   spoke to me personally as I continue to struggle with what I am doing in this program at this stage in my life.  Shouldn’t I be winding down?  Travelling more? Saving for retirement instead of going back to school?  Where is this going?  Staring out at a horizon of the unknown, I have moments of clarity where everything makes sense, as I escape these ‘prejudiced eyes’ of others Myers speaks of. These moments of  awareness I feel bring me the knowledge that I am doing the right thing at the right time, as I seek to live an authentic life.  There is light ahead, I’m just not sure what it is illuminating. 

Cheers, see you soon, 

Mary-Ann

As I continued going through the readings again, I found myself thinking of the the girls who were kidnapped in Nigeria.  Feeling the weight of that, I decided to do a second postcard in honour of those girls.  This is the result:

"Education can be an endeavour of individual and communal authorship,
 restoration, renewal and opportunity"
from Imagining Education: An Arendtian Response to an Inmate’s Question

(Meyer and Fels 2013 pg 16)   

Hi Everyone:

As I’ve been re-reading last weeks articles, the Nigerian girls who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram keep coming into my head.  This story has affected me, as do all stories of women who fight for a  place in their world, as one that does not seem to belong in this century.  These girls and their families can see the power of education, that it “can be an endeavour of individual and communal authorship, restoration, renewal and opportunity” and to have them targeted for that ambition is heartbreaking.  To then learn they are being turned into sex slaves is more than my mind can fathom.  The actions of the Boko Haram are the antithesis of the hope and power this quote brings to mind.  When the female dental hygiene students complain about school I remind them how lucky they are to be afforded this right without repercussions, but the blank looks I get tell me they don’t fully understand their fortunate positions and this frustrates me.  The fact that these young Nigerian women have paid the price for recognizing the power of education should not be lost as the world looks on with hope that they are found and returned to their families.  
Mary-Ann

Lynn sent me a message commenting on these two postcards which inspired me to post both of them. In my first observation I am questioning my time in this program, uncertain if it is the right thing for me.  As Lynn observed in her e-mail to me, "perhaps you need to give the journey time before you step into the light, and realize that it is your voice, your presence, that is being illuminated…as illustrated by your second postcard, about what matters….perhaps yours is to be a voice of advocacy, of moving into action informed by your current journey…"

These words have provided my third 'stop' moment this week - I will spare you the photo to match - that it is okay to not know why I am here.  Just being present (shout out to Paula's postcard, and I'll link it to your page if you post it to your blog) is what matters.  Not worrying about the future or harping on the past allows us to focus on the now, on what is important, and what may provide inspiration for the future.   

References
Myer K,  Fels L. Imagining Education: An Arendtian Response to an Inmates's Question
Canadian Journal of Education 36:3 pg 1-19

Myer K. Teaching Practices of Living Inquiry citation unavailable at present. pg 6 of document

Associated Press 'They started shouting, "Allahu Akbar" and we knew': Nigerian girl describes kidnap, 276 still missing The Sydney Morning Herald May 7 2014 found at: 
 http://www.smh.com.au/world/they-started-shouting-allahu-akbar-and-we-knew-nigerian-girl-describes-kidnap-276-still-missing-20140507-zr5x9.html#ixzz31BHz3wjb