Comments on: The Storm Before The Calm: The Dark Side of Reschooling

By: Melia

Melia — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:02:39 +0000

I found Betty Sue Flowers’ commencement speech from last month at the University of Texas. What an inspiring woman. She clearly gets what life is all about, and is making a big life change at 62. I love that she encourages graduates to reject external measures of success. This is a great passage:

“Flowers remembered a magical morning, long ago, when her son — then a little boy — suggested they linger, walk to the hill above their house, and merely appreciate the wonder of the day. Turns out the son was late to school, the mother late for class. But it was a sublime experience.”

By: sally

sally — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:36:30 +0000

Betty Sue Flowers — beginning a workshop asks you to see your life as a victim, then as a hero. I think this is a very good exercise to try.

Certainly gives you a different way to look at yourself and the stories you tell yourself.

I reccomend a try

By: Melia

Melia — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:00:42 +0000

Timely comment. I’ve spent literally all day detaching from my early years. I threw out bags of old keepsakes, which I thought I’d never be able to do since I’m normally so sentimental. It’s so liberating to remember an experience and then let it go. I hope I can do the same with “the way I used to be” — both the things I liked about myself and didn’t — and focus on who I want to be. Sounds like some advice I once got from a very wise friend…

By: Mr. Hsu

Mr. Hsu — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:52:19 +0000

I’m reading The Last Lecture right now, and it’s a fantastic read. Highly recommended. I mention it because there was a passage in the book where the author is talking about setbacks in his life and how he has dealt with them, and i thought I’d share it with you.

“But I kept my mantra in mind: The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”

I think I mentioned to you a time or two about how my learning to detach from things has been a blessing. It’s one of the most vital skills to possess, but one of the most difficult to accomplish because of the perfectionism we possess and our perception of importance we place on things. Hang in there, you’re doing awesome.