Cross Post

Hmmmm... I'm posting this in my ARP blog... but it is both a personal (general) reflection and an ARP reflection... so I'm posting it here as well. Plus.. I think the ideas taking root in my head that are the catalyst for the change I'm seeing come from more than just the work on (and reflection on) my ARP.... they also come from all the other reading and discussion (DL).

It is very interesting to watch myself at work as I consider, contemplate, and reflect on my ARP ideas. I know that the ARP is now firmly rooted in the back of my head and is definitely having an effect much of what I do at work. I'm starting to bring up project management ideas during our design discussions and even during our casual discussions. I'm not calling them "project management" ideas but that is in fact what they are. I wonder, am I trying to prepare my teammates for participating in my ARP? Is this a fair thing to do? Hmmmm.. I guess if it was for purely selfish (OMET and ARP related) purposes... maybe it wouldn’t be... but I honestly believe that the ideas I'm putting out there have value for our group and, more importantly, they are timely ideas and I shouldn't wait until my ARP "officially" begins to bring them up. Plus - the ideas were always there to some extent... we just haven't been as diligent as we might have been about incorporating them in our daily routine.

Even more interesting though - is that I'm no longer jumping to do everything for everyone else (be the first to answer every question, look up every resource, find every document, etc.). I'm actually encouraging others to contribute and then supporting them in their effort to contribute - I don't think I actually realized that I wasn't doing that before (or wasn't doing it as much as I could). An example of this would be the recent search for industry standards on timelines for the kind of development that we do. I knew where to look that stuff up. I could have just looked it up and then emailed it to everyone else... but instead I encouraged those asking the most questions (and stressing the most over how they perceived our management judges things) to look up the information, compile it, analyze it, distribute it to the team, and then encourage discussion about it. I didn't tell them they had to do it, I didn't say that I wouldn't (or couldn't do it), rather, I suggested that having real data to back up our position would be a very positive thing and then I gave them a nudge in the right direction and continued to encourage them in their search and analysis.

It was very cool to be part of that process AND watch myself from the outside. What is most interesting to me is that I think I felt more satisfied about their achievement than I would have if I had simply looked up all the data myself and presented it. Nice lesson. Must endeavor to remember it as this year progresses.

Yoga, OMET, and ARP

My latest issue of Yoga Journal arrived in the mail this weekend. Being sick and needing to spend what little energy I had on school work, I didn't have a chance to take a really look at it until this evening. Many, many excellent articles in this issue, several of them relevant (IMHO) to my graduate journey in general and the ARP journey in particular.

This month's "Personal Practice" article is about the flexibility that Yoga helps us discover, cultivate, and nurture... not just the flexibility of the body, but also (and perhaps more importantly) the flexibility of the mind. Practicing yoga can help you develop an adaptable mind. Yet, yoga teaches strength and discipline as well as flexibility - as I learned first hand w/ my shoulder injury - to be flexible but not strong is not balanced (it is not the middle way) and it can cause great harm. I think this will be a very important thing for me to keep in mind (and body) this year.

"The Compassionate Backbend" also struck home for me on several levels. First - I was drawn to it because backbends are among my very favorite poses (right up there w/ balancing and twisting). Whenever I perform one (in Yoga or dance) I hear the voice of one of my yoga teachers... "we often say we'll 'bend over backward' to help someone, but how many of use really do bend over backward each day?" It is interesting to me that backbends are associated w/ opening the heart (both the physical and the metaphorical heart). A while back, I wrote about fear and freedom - backbends are about freedom and, for many people, they are also about fear. I can't recall every being afraid to bend backward.. but I'm not always comfortable bending forward. I can do it, grab my feet ... whatever... but I feel constrained when I do... in a backbend I feel free and wonderful. Why? Hmmmm.. .I wonder.

There are two quotes from The Compassionate Backbend that spoke to me most (at least tonight) - "The discipline of yoga is a purification practice, but not in the sense that we Americans seem so inclined to believe. The goal is purification not for the sake of perfection but for the sake of freedom." and "The point of this practice is not to become someone else but to become more fully yourself..." This second quote is especially interesting because I begin to see that that is exactly how I view the process of ARP and, on a larger scale, the potential for the entire OMET experience. It brings me back to the discussion about identity that we had that first night in TI. I have many different aspects, but I am always me - as I grow, I (hopefully) become more fully myself. Maybe this is getting to esoteric or to grand, but I think my whole life is about that process in some way or another.

Ok... Kerry is on the Daily Show... gotta go! hehehe.

Very short, really

Not much to say tonight. This weekend has been quite a trial. I caught what turned out to be quite the tough-guy of a cold and yet was not able to give it the respect it deserved. Too much to do, web-gift to finish (which I did and I'm quite happy with it), show to do on Saturday night (at least it was only one show), ARP pages to read (Ethics), ARP journal entry to do (I'm thinking that one may not get done until tomorrow).... and then all the regular daily work. I guess I broke my own rule, when sick - be sick - don't work. Ah well... The funny thing is that I generally consider sick time to be reflection time - when the body is worn down the brain gets to explore. But - right now I'm too tired to do anything, even reflect... plus I think the coughing is shaking up my brain too much. :)

The art of letting go... and some ARP thoughts to x-post.

No house on La Jolla Circle = or very little chance of it anyway. I can (and may still ) file an ethics complaint against the listing agent, mostly because I really do hate to see such poor behavior both rewarded and un-remarked upon. But - filing a complaint won't get me the house (even my agent, who is also very angry, acknowledges that). Plus, the final buyer isn't responsible for the dishonesty of the listing agent (I'm not even sure the seller is at this point)... so why should I attempt to do to them what was done to me (take away a house they think they have)... bad karma there for sure. Another lesson in "letting go", I've had a number of those (to varying degrees) in the last few years. So - the search continues and I must make a decision about whether I want to file a complaint "on principle" and set myself up as the agent for someone else’s karmic payback or let the anger go. I’m certainly learning a great deal about real estate, but, as I told my dad the other day, I’m tired of getting smarter… I just want a house of my own. I just have to believe that when the right house does materialize, I will find it and successfully buy it.

One very good thing coming out of this whole “House Hunt,” – an even closer bond between me and my parents. Our bond (and our friendship) has always been strong – but this experience is really giving us a chance to work together as adults on something. I can’t imagine how I would do this without them. In spite of how despondent I might occasionally feel during this process, I really am one magnificently lucky individual. I have to continue to remind myself of, and give thanks for, that.


On to other things…

Big revelation (for me) at work today: there are those on my team who, recently, have begun to feel like they are being pressured to work faster and therefore produce lower quality product (courseware). I (and a couple of others) have commented more than once during these discussions (ok… venting sessions) that I’m not feeling that pressure. Today, after discussing the situation with a couple of others, it occurred to me that some of this may be a result of our differing project management styles. On our team, each person (whether LD, LC, IT, or hybrid) hold some level of project management responsibility (beyond just managing their own specific tasks). I think I had been assuming that the projects I was working on were just not as high profile as some of these others, but now I’m not so sure that is the case. So – I’m beginning to think this may be an even better focus for my ARP (than the more general departmental changes I had planned to focus on). Most of my project management skills and style were developed “on the fly” – rather than through formal training, so I know I could benefit from learning about more formal approaches. I also think the whole team could benefit from a sharing of project management knowledge, styles, approaches, etc. Such an ARP could also provide a more controlled environment for setting up the 3 cycles necessary in the limited time I have because I wouldn’t have to wait for the corporate decisions on departmental change. Definitely worth spending some time mapping out. Hmmm… I should probably cross-post this part of my blog in my ARP blog.

Proverb for today: “If you don’t climb he high mountain, you can’t view the plain.”

And – to end on… a beautiful note of irony…

Finally had a moment of “free reading” time today (felt caught up for the moment on class reading), so I picked up my latest copy of Shambhala Sun (came in the mail days and days ago… w/ Jet Li on the cover…yummmmmm).

Started reading through the articles… and (here is the beauty and the irony) the second article is:
“Not Every Gauntlet Requires Picking Up.
“…not every challenge, nor every thought, needs to be acted on… we could be happier just letting go.” The article is an excellent story about when conflict is not necessarily the only (or right) choice. It ends with: “I decided to hold the largest truth open for them to relax into: annoyance happens. If it’s not a big deal, we can let it go. Letting it go is conducive to peace, and that’s a pleasure.”

HA! And the universe says… “you need a smack on the head? I’ll give you a smack on the head!”

Unconscious Competence

Working on the web gift today (and tonight), I’ve come to realize how difficult it must sometimes be for the SMEs I work with. My original thought was to simply create Mike a nice ‘little’ gallery page for the My Family page on his website. Something that uses the thumbnail roll-over (Image Thumbnail viewer II) from http://www.dynamicdrive.com/ . I figured that I would create the page itself, then create a quick tutorial on how to make such a page and include a link to dynamicdrive (which has a great many nifty bits of html code – free to use). But – as I created the images for the page (pulled his into photoshop, resized them, added a border and caption) – I realized that there is more to the page than just the layout and the extra bit of html code. I then realized that I should not assume that my giftee knows how to resize an image, create a border, adjust images so that all are the same size, add a caption, etc. So now – I feel that I should probably add those things to the tutorial. The project grows and my understanding of what it really means to have unconscious competence grows as well. I always understood the concept intellectually, but now I understand it in a more visceral way and I have greater empathy for the SMEs who read the draft of a lesson and don’t realize that something is missing (until they actually look at the lesson in the delivery modality itself). I shall endeavor to be less critical when something comes back after multiple reviews w/ still more required modifications. I may not always succeed, but I will definitely try harder. I’ll remind myself what it is like to just know how to do something w/o really thinking about each little step involved.

It seems like such a "duh" concept, something that should be obvious to a teacher (instructional designer, etc), but I guess there are things we know that we still need to learn again and again. :) Makes life interesting.

Circles and Prophecies

I was planning on blogging about class, my ARP, or maybe some anti-utopian views on DL. Best laid plans they say. I find that I’m kind of bummed (ok…understatement) tonight and really need to journal about that. Since there really isn’t time this year to keep track of several separate blogs (LJ, hand written journals, etc), I’ll just do this in here. My state of mind may effect my work this weekend anyway…so might as well.

I work each day to live in the moment, to appreciate each, acknowledge each, not spend so much time contemplating the past/future that I miss out on the present. It is a delicate balance and I often don’t achieve it. Days like today, I think maybe I don’t achieve it at all.

I so wanted the house on La Jolla Cr. I let myself believe what was said, that the verbal acceptance of my offer was adequate until the seller got back in town. I still want to believe it. That my realtor is right and the realtor representing the seller will realize that his ethics are important and keep good on the statement that my offer was first and was accepted. But – I’ve grown cynical about the ethical behavior of others. I don’t trust people the way I would like to and each time I do, I get burned. It is frustrating, maddening, and depressing.

It is difficult not to dwell on what I might have done differently (insisted that they overnight the contract to the seller, funeral or no funeral, and have it signed w/in 24 hrs of the “accepted” offer… as is the norm). It is equally difficult not to dwell on all the various reasons why I probably won’t get the house now (less than honest realtors, crazy market, desirable area, ‘the universe is out to get me’, whatever.. I can always come up with something).

The whole situation makes me angry, depressed, sad, and a whole range of the same. But – I think what is really bothering me is that I do believe that we have the power to create our own reality. Not in some mysterious, mystical, sci-fi/fantasy way, rather in that when we thoroughly convince ourselves that something will or wont come to be (and truly, deeply believe it) then we put into motions exactly what has to happen to cause the result we expect. I’m not talking about bending the universe to our own will.. I’m talking about how once we convince ourselves of an outcome, we then proceed to behave in a way that causes that outcome to happen (consciously or sub-consciously). Our own choices, actions, and reactions ensure the outcome. It is not pre-determinism by an outside force; it is more of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So, in addition to being sad (et al) about the house, I am also frustrated with myself because I feel defeated and in feeling defeated, I believe that I am sealing my own eventual defeat. Wow – a viscous circle and a self-fulfilling prophecy! Boy am I broken tonight… heh. I know I need to break this cycle of thought/action(inaction)/thought. I’ve been here before (uh…more than once). It isn’t really productive but it is alluring. Each time I arrive here I try to step away or outside of it… I always succeed (or have so far) – hopefully it will take less time each time around. Someday, maybe, I won’t get drawn into it in the first place.

I know Dad worries about me and thinks that I’m too emotional, that these feelings of frustration, sadness, etc. are a waste of my time because the world is the way it is, people behave as they do, and little (if anything) can be done to change that so I shouldn’t waste my time feeling (anything really) about it. I do find it interesting that he doesn’t think that my feelings of joy, happiness, pleasure, etc. are a waste of time. I think maybe the difference is that I still don’t quite believe that you can have the joy without the opposite. You can’t have just one or the other because they are the same, just the other side of the mirror from each other. I wonder if this belief on my part is another thing that exacerbates my current situation… yet another self-fulfilling prophecy… I seem to have an abundant supply of them.

I am a walking (sitting, eating, sleeping) contradiction. I revel in all my feelings (yeah… to be honest even the not so pleasant ones). I like to feel things. It’s am important part of my experience in life. At the same time, I constantly strive for balance. I seek to escape from suffering (samsara) but, at the same time, I think I am not ready to let go of my intensely emotional ways. And so, there is a deep, personal contradiction and struggle in me. I desire peace and pure joy but I fear letting go of my attachment. I am afraid that to let go of pain (suffering) means also to let go of joy. Without pain/suffering, how does one understand joy?

Which leads finally to this question: In a quest for joy, do I create my own pain/suffering? Do I create reasons for my own suffering because I don’t believe I can experience and understand joy without it? Wow – talk about the granddaddy of viscous circles and self fulfilling prophecies! Well – at least it’s a circle I’ve managed to back into and not a corner…. There is always hope that a circle is actually a spiral and there is an eventual ‘out.’

I’m exhausted. I’m done for tonight.

Not the sky show I expected

Stayed up till past midnight for the meteor show.... saw some flashes of light, ran outside. No meteors... just more lightning and thunder. I generally like lightning, a lot.... but I was really hoping for meteors. Ah well... you can't always get what you want... but if you try... sometimes... you get what you need... like sleep for me... I probably need that more than meteors... heh.

Keeping in practice

Not a whole lot to say (write) tonight, but I feel the need to keep up the habit of writing in here. It is 10pm and I should be eating dinner and/or preparing for bed. Heh. Good class in TI tonight. I think we all feel a bit more on track with or ARPs (I wonder why it isn't called PAR for this course?). I need to make an effort to respond more on BB. I read everything and think of short and/or individual responses but save them for a longer post and then keep adding thoughts and not actually posting. Definitely need to find a balance between responding to every note/thread and waiting too long to respond to anything.

I started reading Smart Mobs yesterday. I loved the ideas in Edutopia, but I think, for where I am professionally and personally at this moment in time, Smart Mobs is more "my kind of book." It is interesting that someone just today posted a note w/ warnings about Group Think as I've been interested in the positive attributes of a collective consciousness for some time. The post was kind of a wake-up call for me. Hopefully tomorrow I will find time to consolidate my various thoughts and post a few responses in BB.

On to more personal stuff: Found a beautiful house today. 1955 construction, nice larger corner lot, quiet and well-established neighborhood w/ lots of well loved and cared for houses, big trees, etc. Excellent location (.6 miles from work, probably less than 5 miles from the rest of the family). Most of the inside is original 1950's (kitchen, bathrooms, built-ins, beamed ceilings, etc). Many people would look at this place as an opportunity for remodeling, but I would so love it just the way it is (well... after I remove the carpet)... I made an offer on it.... will know tomorrow if it is accepted.... sure hope it is.

It is funny thing - it is almost as if my life reached a tipping point this year. I've always been "flexible" - changing things as needed, moving on/forward to new adventures, but I've also been somewhat careful in not trying to change too many things at the same time. Suddenly this year, I've found myself at some kind of nexus in my life. I'm making a huge commitment to change with the graduate program I've entered - simply going back to school but also because of the nature of the program I chose (and that chose me). I'm potentially making another huge commitment to change purchasing a house (I say potentially because it still hasn't happened yet and lately it has felt like it may not because the market is so crazy). My job is still new enough (not quite 2 years yet) that it feels like a change too. When I look at all these changes objectively, I think that I should feel overwhelmed or maybe even fearful, but I'm not. That is the amazing thing. I am so energized, so content and at ease with each of these decisions and the path they are taking me down, and so much more excited than I have been about anything in years. I know that by this time next year I will be a totally different person (yet still fundamentally me)... I'm excited to meet that person, I keep looking for her around every corner and in every mirror. One thing about her - she is more proactive than I am (and I thought I already was proactive). I've already noticed at work and home that I spend a little less time considering every angle and option and a little more time acting. For me this is a good thing as I tend to contemplate for too long sometimes. I think being accepted into Pepperdine as given me a new confidence in what I do, both professionally and personally. I'm modeling more like a leader and less like a follower at work. Some of that is because I've been there long enough to feel comfortable with taking that initiative but some of it is also an new dimension to my personality - sort of an alignment between the inner self and the self I show the world. Wow... that actually echoes the Zen story I posted in my last Blog... weird... cool...but weird. hmmmm Now I just need to take that initiative in BB...heheheh.

Ok... for not planning to blog much tonight... this is a lot... what a surprise.

So, time to end this evening's post. I just finished the B5 series for the 3 or 4th time - depending on whether I count only consecutive viewings (first time on DVD though)... I still cry so much during season 5 that it is amazing I want to watch it again and again. Ok... and Now I'm looking for a suitable B5 quote to end tonight’s blog and I'm reading JMS comments regarding recording his commentary for Sleeping in the Light... and here I am all choked up again. wow.

Ah... found it... the significance may only make sense to me... but this is a personal journal...

"Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future, and it changed us. It taught us that we had to create the future, or others will do it for us.

It showed us that we have to care for each other, because if we don't, who will?

And that strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely of places.

Mostly, though, I think it gave us hope that there can always be new beginnings, even for people like us.

As for Delenn, every morning for as long as she lived, Delenn got up before dawn and watched the sun come up..."

Ok... gotta go.

quotes from LJ

Not a lot to write tonight. I spent a good deal of time reading (and some writing) on BB today, more time reading articles, and then class in TI. The TI session was wonderful, I especially enjoyed the discussion about identity and how it impacts learning and vise versa.

Now - a couple of quotes from the LJ Buddhists community that I want to think about and maybe blog about later.

From 'nobody': "If I wait until I'm perfect to speak, I never will."

Now - compare that to the old saying "Remaining silent and being thought a fool is better than opening your mouth and removing all doubt." Where is the middle path between these two views?

And... sort of related ... but not directly... from karmatic_quest *actually from a book that kq read... "If we want to take away the differences that we have as human beings and build a global Sangha.. then we must learn to embrace them, not feel that we have to defend them."

and... finally...

One day, a Sutra Master came and he questioned Zen Master Dae-Ju. “I understand that you have attained Satori. What is Zen?’’

Dae-Ju said, “Zen is very easy. It is not difficult at all. When I am hungry, I eat; when I am tired, I sleep.’’

The Sutra Master said, “This is doing the same as all people do. Attaining Satori and not attaining are then the same.’’

"No, no, people on the outside and on the inside are different.''

The Sutra Master said, ''When I am hungry, I eat. When I am tired, I sleep. Why is the outside different from the inside?"

Dae-Ju said, "When people are hungry, they eat. Only the outside, the body, is eating. On the inside, they are thinking, and they have desire for money, fame, sex, food, and they feel anger. And so when they are tired, because of these wants, they do not sleep. So, the outside and the inside are different. But when I am hungry, I only eat. When I am tired, I only sleep. I have no thinking, and so I have no inside and no outside.''

Miles ELC

I want to Blog tonight but I also want to eat and sleep (after QEftSG is over). I think food and sleep may win out, so this is short tonight.

Posted several responses to the ARP BB notesfile. Then I posted my personal DLC definition to that discussion board. What I wrote on DLCs kind of surprised me. First of all - I actually decided to start out in the very first discussion with a bit of an opposing viewpoint (cool but also kind of scary). Second - although the basic definition that I offered is a nice summary of everything I've been contemplating over the last several days, I had NO IDEA that I would conclude w/ a description of Miles ELC (my first school)... that was a sort of stream of consciousness surprise. It really took me back to my childhood, which is very interesting considering that I was feeling like a bit of a child earlier tonight when dealing w/ my feeling of guilt for asking for too much monetary support from my parents. I think part of it is that I want to feel like an adult who can do everything on my own and part of it is that they are so very generous and I don't want to ever catch myself expecting it (like a petulant child). The emotion it evoked was rather overwhelming, so maybe it isn't surprising that I found myself reminiscing about grade school - a time when it was perfectly OK for parents to take care of me completely.

Ok... food, QE, and Bed!

First BB question and I need to blog before posting

What is Distributed Learning? What does it mean to be a teacher or learner? How should we be designing our schools (and broader learning environments I think)? These are the questions this week for our Introduction to Distributed Learning class.

I have so many tangential thoughts about this subject (what…me have tangential thoughts? No… say it isn’t so!). I think it would be best to blog about the subject a bit (maybe even over a couple of days) before I post to the listserv/newsgroup/notesfile/bulletin board/blackboard (so many different titles for basically the same asynchronous communication construct.

So- what is distributed learning. I’ve read several articles on the subject.

Here are a few links for anyone who might be interested:
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7359
http://techcollab.csumb.edu/techsheet2.1/distributed.html
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/html/erm9943.html
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~soules/improv1.htm
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/dlc.html

Here is one memorable definition:
“Distributed Learning is not just a new term to replace the other ‘DL,’ distance learning. Rather it comes from the concept of distributed resources. Distributed learning is an instructional model that allows instructor, students, and content to be located in different, non-centralized locations so that instruction and learning occur independent of time and place. The distributed learning model can be used in combination with traditional classroom-based courses, with traditional distance learning courses, or it can be used to create wholly virtual classrooms.”
Steven Saltzberg and Susan Polyson (1995). Distributed learnin on the Wold Wide Web. Syllabus, Sept. 95
Quoted in What is Distributed Learning? Maureen Bowman
http://techcollab.csumb.edu/techsheet2.1/distributed.html accessed/downloaded July 30, 2004

The problem I have with the above definition is that it is both distance and web centric even though it claims that the DL of Distributed Learning is not a replacement for the DL of distance learning.

I believe that distributed learning can occur whether the community involved is itself distributed across time and place or is in one time an place (synchronous virtual or synchronous physical). For me, distributed learning is about how the information and knowledge is shared and communicated among all the members of the community (novice, practitioner, master). In a more traditional setting the teacher teaches and the student learns. The teacher (or Master) controls what is presented to the learner (or Novice), when and how it is presented, and how the learner’s knowledge is assessed or validated. In a distributed setting, the master (or masters) have a great deal of knowledge to share and do share it but the novice(s) also share among each other and, hopefully, w/ participating practitioners and masters. The novices not only actively participate in the learning for the whole community but also help to set the direction and pace of the learning.

The most potent thing about the concept of distributed learning is that not only are the knowledge and resources distributed (residing w/ various individuals, in various places, accessed via various modalities) BUT the act of teaching and learning is itself distributed throughout the community. The novice learns from the practitioners, the master(s), and also from the other novices. The practitioners and masters (if they are open and astute) also learn (from each other as well as from the novices).

It is like the BellyDance community on LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com/community/bellydancing/) – all levels of dancers (novice, practitioner, and master alike) participate in this community. The community is focused on our collective interesting Middle Eastern Dance. The discussions range from specific experiential descriptions; requests for advice (on music, technique, costuming, social situations, business practice); requests for referrals to performers, instructors, musicians, designers, etc; and just plain venting about whatever situation we might feel moved by. This community is neither a school nor another organization whose mission is specifically education but it is a prime example of a distributed learning community. All of us learn from each other and each of us share what when know as we can. What is always fascinating to me is how often the same questions are posed again and again (generally by a new novice member) and the same or similar answers are given again and again by different people. Those of us who are practitioners or masters generally answer a question once or twice and then the mantel falls on some of the more experienced novices or beginning practitioners to answer it the next time it is posed. None of us want to answer the same question again and again.. but somehow those questions are asked and answered and the community (along w/ its members) evolves, grows, and transmutes.

This is true in =pad as well – but in a different way. =pad is a notesfile from the old PLATO/NovaNET system – for years it was a fairly open community, but recently, in the interest of self preservation, has become much more selective in granting membership. Because it has been sometime since any novices joined the community, the community has become less of a distributive learning environment and more of a distributed social environment where we converse w/ each other; amuse each other; occasionally ask for and offer useful information to each other; and often push each others buttons for the sake of communal entertainment. I must admit, in terms of distributed learning definitions, I’m not sure where this tangent about =pad fits in.. but it felt right to write about it.

Ok… so back to distributed learning… maybe – as I wrote the other night – one of the better examples is Jazz and Blues music. I won’t go into detail on that again – I already blogged about it. But – there is another kind of improvisation… Theater! In the best improve (at least in my person experience) each participant must make a concerted effort to involve all the participants AND the audience (who often become participants themselves) in the dialogue, activity, action, and collaboration. To me – this is also distributed learning… very dynamic distributed learning in fact.

Hmmm...one more thought tangent that I want saved for later: There is an old saying (I thought it came from Kung Fu or some similar practice... but I can only find it in reference to playing bagpipes and uilleann pipes)... the saying goes like this...
An anonymous bit of Irish folk wisdom asserts that “It takes 21 years to call yourself a piper—7 years to learn the instrument, 7 years to practice, and 7 years to play.” I've always liked this definition and have often applied it to other aspects of my life such as Dance (where I am at the "play" stage) and Yoga (where I am at the learn stage. I've also thought of it in terms of learner = novice, practitioner = practice, and play = master.

Ok… this is long… it is late… I still need to eat dinner… and I’m starting to think in circles… So… I’ll re-read tomorrow and try to consolidate my thoughts for a BB post.

Tonight, I close w/ a little Leonard Cohen (for some reason it seems appropriate).

You can add up the parts
but you won’t have the sum.
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum.
Every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.
Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.

Anthem ©1992 Leonard Cohen Stranger Music, INC. (BMI).