I just finished reading “Walking on Water” by Derrick Jensen. I highly recommend it for anyone working in or looking to change the educational system.

An excerpt:
“I’ve heard it said that within our deathly culture, the most revolutionary thing anyone can do is follow one’s heart. I would add that once you’ve begun to do that–to follow your own heart–the most moral and revolutionary thing you can do is help others find their hearts, to find themselves. It’s much easier than it seems.

Time is short. It’s short for our planet–the planet that is our home–that is being killed while we stand by. And it is even shorter for all of those students whose lives are slipping away from them with every awful tick of the clock on the classroom wall.

There is much word to be done. What are you waiting for? It’s time to begin.”
page 216 Walking on Water

I’ve been thinking about the same things lately and over the past few months I’ve been writing my own little manifesto which you can see below. It was designed to remind me of the things that are important with my work, it is so easy to get sidetracked with other distractions (fears, inconsequential details, jealousy, etc.) I think I should write it on my body somewhere. If you respond to it, feel free to use it yourself. (I added number 12 after reading the quote above. It seemed an appropriate finish).

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” – Helen Keller

“To fall is to understand the universe.” -author unknown

and along those lines…I just did an interview with Matt Porter for the Neenah Paper blog. One of my secrets is revealed in the article, I’ll leave it to you to figure out what it is.

The greatest miracle is the discovery that all is miraculous. And the nature of the miraculous is–utter simplicity. Nothing has been gained by sweat and struggle, by taking thought, by devotion, prayer, perseverance, patience, fortitude–or by sloth, need it be added. Imagine the planets pausing to decide the direction of their orbits! Imagine them struggling to change their fiery courses! Thinking–what a vice! Struggling–what absurdity! To know is so easy, so painless. The ground for any kind of growth and cultivation is prepared by lying fallow.
Henry Miller (fr. Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, New Directions, 1962.)

“Home begins outside.” ~John Cage

from my walk.