Many years ago, I went to live in a monastery. Upon getting situated in my shared room featuring a small closet, bed, and desk, I started poking around in the drawers of the desk. In the top drawer, I found a yellowed and creased copy of a book of quotations. The full importance of this discovery did not hit me at the moment:
I sit here 25 years later after having completed high school, college, graduate school complete with a dissertation, and a solid teaching career over the last decade able to say without a doubt in my mind that this ugly and tattered book afforded me the best, deepest, and most rewarding educational experience of my entire life.
It is my wish to thank that individual who forgot that book in what was to become my desk, to share this experience of discovery with anyone interested in who we are and why we do what we do, and to build a community of people interested in the learning which everyday life provides.
I know that many of us subscribe to Internet sites which automatically beam a quote each day into our inbox and most of us only briefly glance at it as we rush about our day. I'd like to try something different: I'm going to post a quote each day and try to provide it some reflection, some story, some context in the hopes of inspiring us to respect the wisdom which courses through the veins of our societies, our cultures, and our many vibrant and diverse communities.
This sounds interesting! It is true that we often overlook or discard quotes that have been automatically inserted in our inboxes or are available in the cyberspace due to a lack of attention and passion placed in processing and understanding the meanings. Perhaps, oversimplification of the rich and robust wisdom in quotes drives us to click on the next button before we know it.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to start looking to see the world through reflective lenses of different quotes.
Thank you!