Each Monday, I would like to share a reminder about the importance of being mindful. These will come from literature, popular culture, music--anywhere one might get this sort of everyday life nudge.
I've written a number of times about my previous job as a high school English teacher. I loved my work, my kids, my colleagues, and I cherished sharing ideas, discussion, and literature with my students. One such joy, as I revealed in this ee cummings post, was exploring poetry with my juniors and freshmen.
Taylor Mali, also a former teacher, performs spoken word poetry in a powerful and meaningful way. Even for people who don't believe themselves to be poetry fans, Mali has a way of getting through and conveying his message. One exercise I used with my juniors was examining some of his poems by listening together and simply writing short responses for discussion. This always proved to be a fantastic vehicle for dialogue.
This poem is one with which I usually tried to conclude our spoken poetry lesson. It helps remind us all that we need to speak with confidence and authority regarding our own thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, and goals. No one is a better expert on your life than you are!
Like Henry David Thoreau said, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." The first step to creating the life you truly want is strongly and confidently articulating what you want.
