The Teacher’s Code (Learning how to Learn)

• Know your strengths

• Be willing to accept areas that could use growth

• Don’t allow fear of criticism paralyze you

• Maintain a growth mentality (as opposed to a fixed ability mindset)

• Be open to new perspectives (this does not mean that you must agree with them!)

• Have grace with yourself when you make an error (we’re beautiful multifaceted humans with emotions and souls, not machines).

April 13th, 2020 - Quarantine Wisdom from Tolkien

I can’t get very far in any personal blog, without talking about Tolkien. We are in difficult times right now, but I believe there is a silver lining. I believe that this is a time for us to reflect on those things that we value most: family, friendship, food, music, love. Money has pretty much lost meaning, and for those who are trying desperately to hold on to it as an ultimate thing of value, I feel bad for them, and hope they are able to use this time to learn the true value of things.

Thorin Oakenshield, on his deathbed, said these wise words that we would do well to remember: “If more us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, the world would be a merrier place.” Now Thorin was son of Thror, son of Thrain, King Under the Mountain. He came from a line of great nobility, but also a line of kings that fell prey to one of the great idols and “God-substitutes,” Love of Gold. The other great archetypal “God-substitute” is Love of Power. We see this in the story of Isildur, who had one chance to destroy the Ring of Power, but decided to keep it for himself and his progeny. It’s frustrating to see people fall for the same trap over and over. But, there is hope for mankind, and we see it in the story of Aragorn son of Arathorn, Isildur’s heir. Aragorn, was keenly aware of this great weakness of “humans” (I’m going to use the generic term, since so much of Tolkien’s Fantasy is male-centric - a point of weakness that I will concede). In fact, Aragorn struggled with self-doubt to such a degree that he was sometimes crippled by it. This is the reason he was roaming the woods as a Ranger. It was his way of trying to escape the fate of his ancestors - Isildur’s bane. However, we see that this, too, is the wrong solution, because if one doesn’t step up and fight against evil when the time comes, no matter how logical the reasoning, evil will ultimately prevail.

So that’s what we’re always trying to balance. How to fight for what’s good in this world - for those things of true value, while not allowing the false “gods” of wealth and power cloud our vision, and weaken our efficacy. I think it’s important to have enough faith in ourselves to do what is right, and yet balance that with the humility to be able to keep a loose hold on those things that don’t possess lasting value.

All this big talk is one thing, but a lot of us, including myself, think that we are probably more like hobbits. I don’t personally have ambitions to control the whole world, or be a billionaire (or even a millionaire, really - though if success happened to me, I probably would accept it). Wealth and Power are big, far off words, so maybe for most of us, words like “stuff” and “control” are more apt. Ask yourself the question, “what stuff am I afraid to lose?” Losing loved ones is a big one (though I would call them more than “stuff!”) However, more to the point, I’ve lost a lot of family, so I sometimes try to control my memories of loved ones (e.g. pictures), more than perhaps is healthy. It’s not that these things are bad, but they are gifts, not rights. Ultimately, I’m afraid of losing my mind through dimentia, or a traumatic head injury. Losing my ability to play the violin is another big one. Now, here comes the simultaneously hard and yet extremely easy part … let go of your perceived control over that “stuff.” View all of this stuff (abilities, memories, all of it) as a gift, not a right. I bet even if you try this discipline every day of your life, you will still struggle to let go of “stuff” and “control of that stuff.” That’s why most religions contain some sort of practice around this idea of letting go. If I don’t practice the violin for a week, other people might not notice, but I will. If I don’t practice for a month (this has never happened), I imagine people would start to notice. It’s the same with the discipline of letting go. It has to be practiced.

April 11th, 2020

I’m a professional violinist, fiddler, composer, and teacher. However, the way I live my life in all of those arenas is guided by the principles of being a teacher. I believe that everyone is a teacher, wittingly or unwittingly. As a more formal teacher, my aim is to be mindful of how I am interacting with people all the time, not just in an “educational” setting.

My goal is to not only impart information (that’s the easy part), but to free people from the fear of judgment, and encourage them to reach their full potential as humans! Like the many facets of a crystal, life is full of more than facts - it’s full of perspectives. If light is knowledge, humans are the facets of the crystal - we all reflect the light in unique and interesting and essential ways. My job as teacher is to help others polish up their own crystal, so they can shine their brightest!

My job is not to create new crystal, but to help the already beautiful crystal shine even brighter. The exciting part for me as a teacher is, when I engage in this process of “polishing,” I end up getting polished as well! The best teachers are life-long learners, and often the teacher switches roles, and becomes student, as they are presented with a new perspective or challenge!