A Life in Higher Ed

Do we choose to work in higher education out of some obligation and sacrifice to some invisible other, or is it the ultimate expression of actualizing who we are? I ask, rhetorically, as I reflect upon some twitter conversations that I have recently read.

Another problem with self care.....

is the presumption that there are times when we should not care for ourselves. I find it problematic that we have this implied split--that it is normative to neglect ourselves, and only episodically should we seek out something called self care.

When should we not care for ourselves?

Of course, there are times we sacrifice and focus on others, but does that by definition mean neglecting the self? I am not so sure.

The Space as an Intervention Possibility

Many paths to individual change--whether they are approaches, full-blown schools of thought, or theoretical orientations-- call our attention to "The Space," that moment between trigger and reaction, stimulus and response, lack of awareness and action.

I work with my clients a good deal on that space. We collaborate on helping them adopt strategies that make that moment longer, that space increasingly vast, with a renewed sense of self efficacy and choice that feels larger and longer than it had.

Meditation. Mindfulness. The meta moment. Cognitive awareness and restructuring.  There are so many tools, all useful in helping to stop the moment, slow down our reactions, and live more intentionally.

The Problem with Self Care.......

is that it presumes engaging in activities that serve an antidotes to the way you live your life.  A healthy life does not require such "add-ons."  A healthy life, says I, is the goal.

Good Morning from Khon Kaen

I am in Northeast Thailand, Khon Kaen, visiting my dear friend and collaborator, the editor/journalist/teacher/writer Greg Lamphear. It feels good to be here--this has become something of a home away from home the last decade. We are slow-playing some work projects together (webinars), but the pace is languid. 

I have a week more of relative leisure here, which feels particularly relaxing after a hectic week in the Phillipines--a conference, a writing workshop, visits with my expat-research participants, which was followed by three days in Bangkok--another writing workshop, some meetings with qualitative researchers, and a whole poop ton (you know how much that is, right?) of work on an edited book in the final stages of production.

It is Sunday morning here, an I am at Tom N Tom's coffee- coffee culture has planted deep roots in the providence of Isan.

This morning, I work on a flash essay from a new serious on Tacoma.  I check in on my two online classes (The Criminalization of Immigration and Men, Masculinites and Criminal Justice).   I will walk around some more in a while--a year ago I was recovering from the first of two total knee replacements. I have much for which to be grateful.

Not sure I have much to say besides this--a simple check in, a bit of gratitude. That is enough today. That is enough on most days.

The Space

I recently posted a quote byViktor Frankle, which I titled Stimulus, Response, and Freewill. I could have easily referred to it as "The Space." What is, the space?  The moment between affect and action, between environmental cue and mobility/immobility, between an external or internal locus of control. We can also think of it as the space between being determined and determining, between alienation and agency--it is the moment, at times every so fleeting, when change either occurs or does not occur.

Stimulus, Response, and Freewill

Consider...Deeply consider.... Not much need for me to provide analysis, verdad?

Between stimulus and response there is a space.

In that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and freedom

Viktor Frankl

Steven Pinker:The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

Here I present a fantastic video by Steven Pinker, in which he explores the ideas from his book:  The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.