Inward to Outward (vol. 2, no. 9)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month

1. Question I’m living with:

• “What will you choose to make of yourself?” – Aldous Huxley (The Perennial Philosophy)

2. Quote I’m considering:

• “The inward sea. In the inward sea there is an island that everyone has, in their spirit; that on that island is an altar. And next to that altar is an angel with a flaming sword. And in order to put what is most important on the altar, you first have to find the sea, you’ve got to get to the island, and you gotta get past the angel, so that you can find what is truly genuine in you and what is most important. He said, once you find that, then you come alive. Then you discover what you have been purposed for. And then you begin to work outward. So you work inward to work outward.” – Rev. Ottis Moss III speaking about Howard Thurman’s metaphor of the “inward sea”

3. Poem I’m pondering:

“birth-day” by Lucille Clifton

today we are possible.

the morning, green and laundry-sweet,

opens itself and we enter

blind and mewling.

everything waits for us:

the snow kingdom

sparkling and silent

in its glacial cap,

the cane fields

shining and sweet

in the sun-drenched south.

as the day arrives

with all its clumsy blessings

what we will become

waits in us like an ache.

4. Something inspiring:

• The word Sonder – “the realization that every random stranger has their own unique story and is living a life as complex as your own.” (ht The Art of Noticing)

5. New blogs:

I’m writing a book on my pedagogy blogpost by blogpost. It’s called Rewild School. Anyways, here are two new entries (they are longer than my usual posts):

• Exiled – “Upon reflection, I decided that their behavior had crossed a line. And, upon deeper reflection, I concluded that their continued presence in our community was detrimental to our community.”
• You and Your Classroom’s Culture – “I exercised authority that an educator committed to Rewilding their students should exercise with extreme caution.”

If you’re reading this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues here, view lists of poems, questions, quotes and songs I’ve shared before here, and subscribe here.

Thanks so much. And, have a great day! – shawn