And I realized just how much I had been yearning for that experience again. I felt like a wilted desert plant receiving a summer rain. I was simultaneously astonished to only now recognize that I had reached that point in my career after a really difficult year, and amazed that I could fill up on inspiration again. And ironically, this happened in my very last professional commitment for this academic year.
Following up on yesterday's post about generosity, this made me pause:
What are we open to learning?
Which of those things we have learned is worthwhile teaching?
And what person are we becoming as a result of that intersection?
Groucho runs deep
Groucho Marx famously said, "I don't want to be a member of any club that would have me." Thanks to our connection economy, the membership rolls are now wide open, but the problem isn't declining.
There are so many communities that want you. So many opportunities to connect, to learn, to leap.
Some communities have skills and want to share them with you. And other ones need you to teach.
In the face of these opportunities, it's easy to say, "everyone's too smart for me," or worse, "I'm too advanced and I can't learn anything here."
The full Groucho is believing that you don't deserve to learn and you're not entitled to teach.
Of course, that's merely a form of hiding. Because connection leads to learning and learning leads to change and change is frightening. Easier, it seems, to push the opportunities away, say your Groucho Marx line and go back to doing what you were doing.
If you weren't afraid of change, what could you learn?
And if you weren't afraid of rejection, what would you teach?
Each of us is becoming, becoming something better or something worse. And we become what we teach and what we learn.
0 comments:
Post a Comment