Diary, it’s May 14. I was talking with some students today. One of them, who was not from Valdosta, asked me what the core of my teaching was. I don’t how we got on that subject. Anyway, without missing as beat, as I have often said, “Love, unconditional love of each student.” He looked at me and the others with a puzzled stare, and then asked me why and what I meant by that. I told him poetically that when I love, I carry with me my own sunshine no matter the weather.” Then, he threw a bunch of negative challenging “what ifs” at a me. I parried, “‘unconditional’, no qualifications, no exceptions, no ‘buts.'” Now he looked at me nervously, and confused, as if I was some kind of nut. “I’ve never heard any of my professors talk like that. Why is that important?” he asked as if I was an embarrassment for having uttered as something intellectually insulting as the “L” word. Then, I answered him in less poetic terms that nothing steadies my mind, heart, and soul as steady, unconditional love. There’s no multi-tasking with it because it demands that I give each student my fullest attention; it focuses me; it makes me listen and see intently; That attention makes visible what I might never have seen. No one is perfect, I told him. I’m not fooled by imperfection. I don’t allow myself to be fooled by mistakes the students have made into believing they are lesser than they are; I am not fooled by the dark images they have of themselves. I see their beauty when they feel ugly; I know they can be whole when they are broken; I know they are innocent when they feel guilty; I see their purpose when they are confused; I see their potential when they feel all is lost. When I love each student, where’s the limit to my faith, hope, perseverance, and endurance? It’s like I’ve discovered the way to defeat cynicism, frustration, and resignation. What situation or person, then, can I not face and face down, when I replace laboriousness and pointless with labor of love and purpose?
You know, diary–feels weird talking to a sheet of paper or whatever I’m writing on–I think we, student and professor alike, we can see much farther from the mountain summit than we can from the valley. We can transform our world in general and our world in the classroom specifically in an instant by the way we choose to see it. We can change problems into opportunities, anxiety into enthusiasm, and despair into determination if we raise our perspective. The quality of what we see depends on the perspective from which we see it. And that perspective is entirely up to us. We can choose to live from a constant and unassailable perspective of love which makes each day a very special occasion.
Louis
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You are not just talking to your diary. You continue to inspire educators worldwide. We so often see the forest of students, but miss the beauty of each tree. Thank you for being so present with your students, and by example, encouraging others to do the same.