A Quote…

“You will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it…Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.”

~ C.S. Lewis

Lies of Fear

This is one of the lies fear likes to tell me: That idea isn’t new–it isn’t earth shattering–so it is not worth sharing. Or its sister lie: People have already heard that, they already know that. Tell them something new! New is better.

But then I think about how reaffirming it is when I read the same truth in multiple places, especially across different industries or subject areas. The truth could be from different authors, bloggers, be they novice or expert, with unique and totally separate experiences or from different cultures, belief structures, with varied outlooks and goals.

Maybe it is because truth is not non-transferable…

That isn’t mine either…I heard it on a podcast somewhere.

In my classroom, this is why one of my favorite times would be when a student asked, “What subject are we in right now?” Maybe we were writing about how the scientific method applied to the creation of their pet store blue prints (which included area and perimeter practice too) or applying what we knew about fractions, decimals, and measurement from “math” to taking measurements during our “science” labs.  Ohhh what a fun opportunity to make connections! I get excited just thinking about it again…

A Caveat

Don’t hear this as an excuse to not share where your thoughts originated! This doesn’t mean you don’t cite your sources or give credit where credit is due! It means you keep learning, keep growing and share those who influenced you along the way. What a great model for the kiddos in our classroom when we exhibit a never-ending passion for learning, reflecting, and sharing with our communities (that is a different post).

So here I go again…

On my own…going down the only… (just kidding–some of you are singing now–you’re welcome)

So here I go again…trying to share my thoughts, reflections, hopes and especially fears. So I will stop saying/thinking… oh yeah I have a half written post about that in my Evernote account. Here is to telling the truth and reflecting for the sake of truth and reflection.

And lastly…

Just keep swimming…just keep swimming

~ Dori, Finding Nemo

Up Next…

A post reflecting on what happens when we do that which we are afraid of doing!

*Photos from MorgueFile –that is the free use ones