Tagged: Mediflection Groove

Finding The Time

Last night my wife went out with the girls (a rare occurrence now a days).  With everything going on in our lives right now, she hesitated to accept the invitation.  The idea was, what multitude of things could she/should she have been doing instead of relaxing with a group of friends that she hadn’t seen in a while.  It was clear that the relaxing was a good idea.  We don’t make time, we don’t find time, we don’t even lose time, we’ve been gifted time, and we are each responsible for choosing how to spend it.  Relaxing, recharging, socializing, and stepping away from the daily barrage of responsibilities that comes with running our home and keeping the cogs of our growing family interact was the right thing for my wife to do last night.  A few hours can go a long way.  She should do it more often.

I write for at least a half hour every day.  There’s so much else to do.  Occasionally I’m brushed by a wind of anxiety as I sit down knowing that the next half hour will be occupied by writing (less and less as the habit continues to build and the benefits continue to show).  But it’s been so wonderful for me.  For me, writing allows the learning that I do to unfold in meaningful ways.  I don’t have tons of space in my brain (it’s good to know one’s limits).  Daily reflective writing allows me to process the multitude of stimuli I’m regularly flooded with, it helps me do some analysis and embedding of concepts and/or concerns that need addressing, it perpetuates my work toward solidifying solutions and/or pathways to next steps, it remind me of how the path I’m treading relates to the values I hold dear, and it functions as a wonderful tool in my efforts to augment the path when I slip, trip, or temporarily lose my way.  Writing forces me to be mindful of what’s important in my life.  Spending at least thirty minutes each day doing it pays dividends like I wouldn’t have believed…but do now.

The gift of time is a bit precarious in that we don’t know how much we have.  We really should choose wisely.  What if you were handed a bank slip and told that an account has been opened in your name and that you can choose to spend the money in any way you’d like.  What if the catch was that you never get to know how much money is in the account.  Are you the type who would be careful to optimize the return?  Are you the type who would throw caution to the wind?

I believe that a core values mantra is good stuff when thinking about self-management within time.  I put it that way thanks to Stephen Covey who reminds me that we don’t manage time, but ourselves within it – one of my favorite Covey lessons (among many).  When I think about what to spend my time on, I think about what I believe in, and what’s truly important to me.  As mentioned above, we all need to relax and recharge.  Is a reality T.V. show a waste of time?  How about playing a video game?  What about connecting with friends and colleagues on social media, or reading a news feed?  How about taking a walk, listening to music, digging in the dirt, starring off into space, or even just zoning out for a few minutes?  Who knows?  I do for me.  You do for you.

That’s the thing.  No one can tell you what to do with your time.  My suggestion, and something that’s been working really well for me, it to spend it as wisely as possible, and with intention.  Connect it to who you are, what you dream about, integrate your activities so that they’re meaningful in multiple ways, and try things that seem as though they could work for you.  I think that writing has a positive impact in many areas of my life.  In this half hour, I have been finding powerful positive progress in myself as a husband, a father, an educator, and holistically as a person.  I truly believe that it’s worthwhile for me, for those I love, and for those I serve.  Not a bad half hour.

How about spending time with people?  How much time do you spend working out challenges that have something to do with your responsibilities to the people in your life?  If you’re in parenting or education, my guess is that it’s significant.  I find that the more time I spend with my children, my students, the teachers, support staff, and parents who I work with, and others who are important in my life, the easier it is to overcome challenges as the arise.

What about that student who’s constantly disrupting your lessons?  Maybe spending a few minutes each day engaging him in conversation, relating to him, or listening to his thoughts, ideas, or concerns outside of a disruption context could preempt some of the disruptive behaviors.  It might even perpetuate an enhanced, joyful experience for both of you.  When I spend time with people, intentionally working to understand and make connections with authenticity, an open mind, and open heart, I usually find that it’s time well spent for all involved.

Again, we don’t find time, we don’t make time, and we don’t even lose time.  We each choose how to spend the time that we’re given.  Relax, recharge, build trusting and positive relationships, work hard in personally meaningful ways, address your health before your ill, connect with the people and things that matter most even before it seems as though they’ve been neglected.  Read an extra book to your kid each night.  Wake up early, go for a walk, stare into space…do whatever it takes to maximize the gift that you’ve been given.  And when you find that you’re not, as we all do at times, try again!

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Dream Big.  Work Hard.  Be Well.

I “Love To” Do The Mediflection Groove

I’m a sculptor, and not a very good one at that.  But I “love to” do it.  Not like I love to eat pizza or jump on a trampoline.  It’s different kind of “love to.”  It’s the kind of “love to” that I don’t exactly realize is a “love to” unless I really think about it.  It’s the kind of “love to” that I get lost in.  Actually, I haven’t sculpted it in years, but I came across a box of my sculptures while cleaning the garage yesterday, and instantly, without trying, I remembered the “love to” part.  I felt it.  It felt good.  It made me want to sculpt.

Then, in that same moment (and in the ones that followed it), I realized that that “love to” isn’t exclusive to sculpting (for me).  I feel it when I’m painting; something I haven’t done in a long time either.  Upon that realization, I wanted to paint.  I thought about driving up to the art supply store for a box of clay and a canvas that afternoon.  But then, again in the connected moments, I realized that the “love to” I was so excited about also happens when I’m landscaping and gardening.  Hold on, landscaping and gardening are things that I do all the time.  I could do them right now if I want.  Well, not right now, but soon.  I might just do them later on today.

And hold on again…that same “love to” happens when I write!  I know, because I am doing that right now, and I am “loving to!”  Holy macaroni (as my three-year-old would say), maybe it’s not the sculpting, the paining, the landscaping, or the writing…maybe it’s something else.  Maybe it a side affect of those things.  The common thread between all of those activities is that when I do them I tend to get into a groove.  You know, I nestle into a zone of hyper-distracted focus (goofy, but you know what I mean).  It’s the groove!  It’s the groove!  I love the groove!  Maybe I’m groovy.  Maybe I’ve taken it too far.

Maybe the groove is my meditation.  I’m not in the lotus position, and I’m not focused on breathing, but I am relatively comfortable, and I am hyper focused on something.  When I’m in the groove I’m so focused that I often don’t know what that something is.  When I come out of the groove I feel revitalized.  My thoughts seem streamlined.  I have new ideas.  I’m excited about next steps.  I think that in the groove, I unintentionally reflect.  I think I get lost in reflection.  When I’m really in it good, time goes away.  I think that it’s my mediflection groove.  When I’m doing a “love to” thing like sculpting, painting, landscaping and gardening, or writing, and when I get lost in that thing, I’m also meditating and reflecting.

Here’s the rub, I sat down to write about reflection this afternoon.  I did so because I find reflection to be indelibly tied to effective learning, and as an educational leader I’m terribly interested in thinking, writing, and talking about effective learning.  I’m always looking for ways to understand and foster a culture of it.  I didn’t know that this piece would become about my mediflection groove.  But it did.  And composing it remained me of something very important…one man’s nonsense is often another man’s logic.  While I’m exploding with thoughts about how my mediflection groove is tied to my effective learning and growth, and how I might be able to translate that into a deepened understanding of others’ effective learning and growth potential, the whole thing might be meaningless drabble to you.  You might unsubscribe from this blog after having read it.

Even if that’s the case, I challenge you to at least consider your own mediflection groove.  What is it that get’s you lost and focused?  What activity inadvertently drives you into a state of meditative reflection?  What do you “love to” do?  Maybe it’s cooking, maybe it’s walking your dog, maybe it’s flossing your teeth, and maybe it doesn’t matter.  Maybe what does matter is that we can each recognize our “love to” activities, feel comfortable taking the time to engage in them, and then allow the mediflection groove to work its learning magic.  Maybe educators can know the learners they serve well enough to recognize, support, and encourage each one’s “love to” activities with intention, and incorporate that knowledge into their instructional design.  And…if this is a bunch of malarkey, and if there’s no such thing as a mediflection groove, trying it still could submerge you more deeply into the things that you “love to” do.  Not a bad side effect to hogwash.

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Dream Big.  Work Hard.  Be Well.