Probably my greatest attribute is the fact that I can convince young people that they can do this, and they get involved with it, and I keep impressing on them that every time they pick a brush up, they get better. And I think that’s probably the best thing I’ve done with my life. That’s what’s probably going to be on my tombstone: That he taught me to pick up a brush.
Pete W. – October of his 42nd year teaching high school art
The repetitive task creates a mental silence that allows your mind to wander into other things.
While I’m doing something, I’m immersed. Now, that doesn’t mean I can’t get distracted – because I like shiny things and noisy stuff as much as anybody – but I try to come back to where I was. And to me, even the distractions – the shiny stuff and the noisy things – become part of the whole process…
It’s all stream of experience as you go through the day… which makes living, first of all, and a job that you enjoy, a lot more bearable, because you see the ebbs and flows…
Challenging is an interesting word…. I don’t see it as a challenge… how can I put this? It would be challenging if I didn’t enjoy it as much as I do.
It IS a lot of work. That’s what some people don’t realize – it’s definitely very tedious, and it IS a lot of work. But the outcome you get from putting in all that work and effort… the amount that it pays off takes all of that feeling of challenge away. It’s just pure satisfaction.
I’m trying to teach my students to just focus on the activity and the process, and not worry about the outcome. Their lives are so hectic right now, and so distracting – with technology, and with so many different subject matters – that they seem to turn on and off, on and off with subject matter – I’ve really been encouraging them to be mindful on the activity. To be aware of the mindfulness of just mindfulness.
The ‘after’ really doesn’t matter to me as much as I thought it would. It’s really the process that I’ve come to enjoy. The building is the part that I look forward to… That’s what I think we need to get students to buy into: It’s the process of learning that’s valuable, not what they produce along the way.
I don’t think enjoy is the right word for it. I think passion is the right word for it.
Real achievement comes by being engaged, by being excited by things, by having your curiosity awakened and stimulated. It’s the heart of good education. And I think good teachers should know that… that if you can find that spot in people’s lives where their passion meets their talent, they’re going to achieve far more than if they are sitting there, disengaged.
When you find something that you really love, I guess the time just doesn’t really matter.
FLOW Project 2013 