Holding our ground: More essential than ever
We may follow Dodge’s wisdom and hold our ground, embrace our space to make it safe. We become the calm that anticipates the storm. In the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, we may choose to stand still––in the Taoist sense of wu-wei, non-doing––and simply wait until, “the mud settles and the water is clear.”
You may have felt threatened. In the dismantling of our country. In the pandemic. Facing a hurricane. A tornado. Perhaps a gunman on a rampage. You will not be able to prepare for what might happen. You will have to create new ground, as Dodge did.
Teachers have been threatened in their classrooms, more so in recent years. During the pandemic. Perhaps a time when a student threatened you or a classmate. During a bomb scare. And worse, during active shooter drills.
Students look to you in these times. You may not be able to prepare for what might happen. Certainly not for a person with an AR-15. But with courage you anticipate you might. You want your room to be a safe place. You make that clear to your students. You hope you will keep it that way.
Given that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward” (Kierkegaard), I write to bring ideas and methods from my life as a teacher in the latter half of the 20th century to help teachers and the public to “live forward” in this century. My latest book, “Teacher in the Rye: Doing It My Way” is available on Amazon. And I welcome comments here on my Blog or by email at frankthoms3@gmail.com.
