The Hammock Papers: Reminder.

24 January 2023

Reminder.

A frequent reminder to my students (and myself) ...

The Renaissance philosopher, poet, and gourmand, Umberto Limongiello, is famous for saying ...

You'll be much more likely to survive life's daily battles as long as you have developed an ethos. But beware ... ethos or not, life will demand that you go boldly into its Unknown being honest, dedicated, and open.

In order for you to make the most of your life and its learning experiences, it will be necessary for you to develop a personal ethos.

ETHOS: What is it?

Definition

The spirit of a culture, era, or community as demonstrated in its beliefs and aspirations.

Etymology

"the 'genius' of a people, characteristic spirit of a time and place," 1851 (Palgrave) from Greek ēthos "habitual character and disposition; moral character; habit, custom; an accustomed place," in plural, "manners"

CICERO'S CALL for STUDENT INDEPENDENCE

Orator, lawyer, politician, and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero (106—43 B.C.E.) reminds us of our ultimate responsibility for ourselves.

The authority of those who teach is often in the way of those who want to learn.

ETHOS: How does it work?

Ethos has to do with how the values and beliefs that you hold dear impact your behavior. In other words, what you believe is demonstrated in how you behave. That's ethos.

The ethos of an ambitious learner requires five essential elements ...

1. Authenticity

Authentic learners are honest with themselves and others, aspiring to become increasingly aware of the strengths and weaknesses that make them unique. Authentic learners deal with the reality of their experience, not faking understanding or experience.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

2. Vulnerability

Vulnerable learners are courageous and open about communicating their thoughts and feelings throughout the process of learning. Vulnerable learners are willing to be exposed, potentially risking their reputation of being an expert, in order to learn.

Perfection is a lie.

3. Acceptance

Accepting learners understand that learning occurs only when the choice is made and action is taken toward growth. Accepting learners are responsible for themselves and their learning.

Learning is never finished.

4. Presence

Present learners bring a full and concentrated effort to the work to be done. Present learners focus on the task at hand.

Multi-tasking minimizes talents.

5. Empathy

An empathetic learner is patient with him- or herself and patiently supportive of the surrounding learning community. Empathetic learners trust the process of learning.

Just like popcorn pops at different rates, learners progress the same way.

This year I will challenge you to use these values so that you can begin to understand, appreciate, and respect, and develop yourself as a learner. You are unique. The way you explore, discover, and ultimately learn is singular to you. So is the pace at which you learn. Learning is not a competition with others. Dare to strike out and find new ground. Have a reason for what you do and nothing can go wrong.

You might be asking yourself, "Why should we care about these values?" The answer is because they create a relationship of trust within our learning culture and we must endeavor to respect this relationship in order to get the most out of our learning experience together.

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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

"When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone and of good cheer – say travelling in a carriage or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep – it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence, and how, they come I know not ; nor can I force them. Those ideas that please me I retain in memory and am accustomed, as I have been told, to hum them to myself. If I continue in this way, it soon occurs to me how I may turn this dainty morsel to account, so as to make a good dish of it. That is to say, agreeable to the rules of counterpoint, to the peculiarities of various instruments etc. All this fires my soul, and, provided I am not disturbed, my subject enlarges itself, becomes methodised, and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it like a fine picture or a beautiful statue at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is, I cannot tell."

MARCUS AURELIUS

"Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, 'Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world?' neither intolerable nor everlasting - if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it!)-or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility."

VINCENT van GOGH

"What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity or a disagreeable person — someone who has and will have no position in society, in short a little lower than the lowest. Very well — assuming that everything is indeed like that, then through my work I’d like to show what there is in the heart of such an oddity, such a nobody. This is my ambition, which is based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Even though I’m often in a mess, inside me there’s still a calm, pure harmony and music. In the poorest little house, in the filthiest corner, I see paintings or drawings. And my mind turns in that direction as if with an irresistible urge. As time passes, other things are increasingly excluded, and the more they are the faster my eyes see the picturesque. Art demands persistent work, work in spite of everything, and unceasing observation."

DAN CAMPBELL