I am excited to introduce you to my website and blog. It may seem like a strange thing to do at this age of 81, but to me it’s a great adventure to deal with the times we live in. I’m forced to figure out how to work with the technological aspect when I’d really prefer writing on paper. Yet the positive aspect of social media, Facebook and Email, is that it connects us beyond miles in close time. We have to stay alert not to be seduced and lose hours when we could be communicating with our friends and neighbors, tending the garden, going for a daily walk, or figuring out how to fix the leak in the toilet. I think that being awake is important in our time.
2014. Visiting Nursery Program, Nairobi, Kenya
The theme of my website is “Connecting,” and having a blog is a way of connecting with those far away both in place and time. As I scan the globe, I think of friends and family, former students and teachers, colleagues, travel partners, editors, publishers, international Waldorf folk, people I know well, and those I’ve met in brief encounters. All have contributed to my life, and I am grateful for them.
In twenty years of teaching History through Art, I learned another kind of connecting. Through taking in an image, something is awakened in ourselves, and our feelings are deeply enriched. As part of the intellectual journey, we connect with ideas, big Ideas and small ideas. We are confronted with the world of questions and meaning. During our lifetime, we experience ideas differently; some that barely caught our attention become existential, and others take a break for a while and fade into the background. Beyond the conceptual aspect of Ideas, the spiritual or universal essence speaks to us directly as we search to connect with what is at our core. Some find these connections in Nature, in sacred ritual, in religious teaching, or in a child’s trust. At times, I will use the blog as an outlet for such musings.
I have been fortunate in having traveled to many places and experienced their cultures. In the blog, I look forward to sharing my travels to bring you along with me, if you so wish.
Beginning the adventure of blogging is stepping into the unknown. I invite your comments, although I don’t see it as a tool for deep conversation.
I am also developing Courses based on my books. The courses will be free, and hopefully, you’ll be able to purchase the book. I’m designing the courses so that even if you can’t get the book, there will be plenty to chew over. These are not heavy courses with weighty assignments, but questions that can be shared with a friend or contemplated alone. Not surprisingly, the first course will be on biography. Check it out under Courses for more details.