Project Wonder - Day 8 - Thanksgiving

"When you give thanks, you open yourself to noticing that there are good things around you"

This line came in an email newsletter. The topic was gratitude, in light of this being the Canadian thanksgiving. If you're interested you can read the full message here.

I have been thinking a lot about the value of gratitude and humility for the past few months. The more I dwell, the more I feel thankful. It's a wonderful self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Today's PW is short and sweet. I am grateful for my family, and my friends, and all other with whom my path has intersected. I am grateful for my accomplishments and my opportunities, as well as for my failures and my challenges. I am grateful for conversation, for freedom of thought, for creativity and for possibilities. I am grateful for all the magic that fills my life with meaning. 

Thank you all. And thank you for reading. 

Yours in appreciation,

Brandon

Project Wonder - Day 7 - Many Stories

For the first month of my time here in Ghana, I was nervous to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I was nervous to start telling tales, knowing that my experiences are infinitely richer than I could ever hope to capture with words.

I learned about the concept of the "single story" in one of my courses in teachers' college last year. We watched the following video of Ms. Adichie, a story teller whose message speaks to one of my greatest fears in this world.


Beautiful no?

Our minds so easily settle into ONE explanation. We can't help but "flatten our experiences", and flatten our perceptions of others. After all, it's nearly impossible to see both sides of a coin simulaneously.

When we see heads, we must remember that there's another side we can't see. We can shift our perspective to see tails on the other side. And then we can shift our perspective to see the edge of the coin. And we can rotate the coin. How many ways are there to view a coin? I like to think that there's always another way.

It's easier said than done. Finding new ways to perceive our experiences DOES require effort, and regular practice.

I'm convinced we can learn to to acknowledge that our interpretation of the world is not the ONLY nor is it the BEST interpretation. If we remember that there are other ways to explain our experiences, and that our perceptions of the world might not be entirely accurate, then we can practice thinking in possibilities. We can work collectively to understand our shared experience of this strange universe, and learn peacefully from and with one another.

Ms. Adichie offers many wonderful insights, but I found one idea particularly empowering, and a little frightening:

"Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person."

Makes me wonder just how much power I have. How much do any of us have? My instinct tells me that it's much more than we want to admit.

Thank you for reading.

Yours in multiplicity,

Brandon

Project Wonder - Day 6 - Memories

Today is about appreciating my personal history, and being able to draw on my experiences and memories to help me connect with others.

One of the students I teach is particularly intellectual. Some other staff members have argued that he is dangerously so. Although I've not seen any evidence of a threat from this student, I suppose they have a case. Intelligence, like any form of power, could be harmful if in the wrong hands.

These staff members are concerned that this student is going to hurt himself or others. The student has admitted that he is not happy, and does not believe he will ever be happy. He confesses that if you see him looking happy you should first consider that he is "faking it". He is widely read, and enjoys challenging institutions, structures of language, and everything else that often goes unchecked.

He reminds me a lot of me.

When I was younger, I went through a similar intellectual journey. I've always loved digging into ideas, but I went through a phase where what I found was incredibly unnerving. It was a lonely place at times, and it got to a point where I needed to see a mental health care team.

I remember my first interview vividly. Surrounded by men and women with clipboards and pasted on smiles, knowing there were even more men and women with clipboards on the other side of the mirror. They questioned me for nearly an hour, rapidly recorded my words and behaviour, and witnessed not an ounce of my burden. I put on my happy face, and faked it. I wasn't about to open up to a bunch of strangers.

Since then I have learned to better deal with my mental struggles, and I've developed a positive frame of mind. And in many senses I'm very grateful for having lived through this type of experience.

I had a brilliant teacher who once told me that he hoped that my life would be rich with tragedy. Not for my own suffering's sake, but so that I might better understand the struggles of others.

With this in mind, I decided to share my story with the principal, and this student and his family. And it has made all the difference. Sharing these experiences has laid the groundwork for trusting, honest relationships.   The principal felt relieved to know that I might be a role model for the student. The parents and I spoke sincerely about ensuring their son's well-being. And the student and I exchanged book recommendations.

Today, I'm amazed by the power of a memory, and I'm grateful for my "tragedies".

Thank you for reading.

Yours in sharing,

Brandon

P.S. In case you're wondering, I recommended Man's Search for Meaning.

Project Wonder - Day 5 - Coaches

I'm pleased to announce that I am officially the football coach of Canadian Independent College – Ghana. Our varsity team will be playing a rival school, somewhere, sometime.

Extra-curriculars have started at the school, and it so happens that I'm the teacher who has been assigned football on Thursdays. I'm also the basketball trainer on Wednesdays, and the drama club facilitator on Mondays. All ideas are welcome.

It has been so great to interact with the students and teachers outside the classroom. I get to learn from them in a new light. Drama and basketball are going to be a lot of fun, but our football, well, as one of the players said, “we are in this to win this.”

Today was our first practice, and Ben, our captain, met with me and the rest of the team on the wee basketball court. Together we put the troops through a workout and some skills training. I even gave a pep talk:

“Gather round folks. Good. Okay now listen up. You guys are working hard, but I'm hearing a lot of whining about the push-ups. Ya know, every thing you do costs you effort, and energy. Including moaning. Stop moaning, you'll be less tired, and feel stronger. Focus on your actions. Focus on controlling your thoughts. Focus on getting through the torture HERE,” pause, “so we'll be strong enough to handle it out there.”

I did that thing where your voice fades into a really significant sounding whisper, to emphasize the gravity of the inspiration. It may not read very well now, but in performance it was Hollywood caliber. And the look. The look in their eyes. Like a gentle fog. Not a mist, but a fog. All of them. Maybe one student was still with me, nodding eagerly. The rest, they had tuned out long ago and were patiently waiting for me to stop making noise so they could play. I haven't felt that boring in a long time. 

Ben did most of the talking for the rest of practice. I took notes. 

Today, I'm grateful for all of the coaches who inspired me, and who taught me the value of perfectly timed pauses. Thank you for reading,

Yours in monologue-ing,

Brandon

P.S. This is how I imagine our players one day:

Project Wonder - Day 4 - Fresh Air

Today was a very challenging day at school. Unfortunately I cannot get into the details, but there was a clash of ideologies and a lot of tension among several members of the staff.

I managed to catch my temper on the rise, and was able to slip outdoors where I was welcomed by a gentle breeze and a shot of perspective. The fresh air spoke of the omnipresent beauty that exists whether I take notice or not. It reminded me that there's so much more to the world than my hurt feelings, and I breathed slowly and rhythmically to drift into a state of appreciation. After all, I'm collecting some phenomenal stories for the grandkids. No, I don't actually have grandkids. At least, none that I'm aware of.



Today I'm grateful for the cool breeze. Thank you for reading.

Yours in respiration,

Brandon

Project Wonder - Day 3 - Self-actualization

Don't let the title of today's PW mislead you. In no way have I achieved self-actualization.

However, today in our Psychology class we were discussing Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which categorizes our various human objectives. According to Maslow, and many other scholars, self-actualization is the ultimate human need. It refers to someone's ability to fulfill her/his human potential, in all capacities. It is clearly not something one achieves in a night. 

"But how long does it take to reach this top rung of individual achievement?" I asked this question to the class. 

It starts a wave of a murmur, washing around the room. Judging from the growing buzz students are genuinely interested. It gets louder as students declare enthusiastic opinions with each other. Two students nod in agreement that it would take a long time, some are debating whether Bill Gates is self-actualized or not, and another few are refuting a claim that self-actualization could be achieved by your 20th birthday. I don't care whether your brother has accomplished his life's dreams so young, he couldn't possibly be self-actualized.

Then Alex spoke. And Alex rarely speaks.

"Self-actualization has NEVER been achieved, and NEVER will." This popped a bubble of silence into the room, causing everyone in the room (myself included) to pause and allow the sheer enormity of this idea to rest on our brains.

Then things got intense. Faces animated, voices raised, fingers pointed. The stakes were higher now. The chaos and enthusiasm seemed it would not end, and this is when the real games began: the students SELF-ORGANIZED A DEBATE! That's right. They recognized the inefficiency and violence of their shouting and yelling and channeled it into an organized, systematic debate.They formally took sides and practiced listening and responding and defending their perspectives. No shortage of tact, or diplomacy. I was blown away.

I'm reminded that energy and participation really are contagious. All it takes is finding something you care enough about. When you have that, you work to find solutions to the problems in your way.

Today I'm grateful to work with inquiring, engaged, risk-taking minds. And of course for you, dear reader.

Yours in potentialization,

Brandon

P.S. Click here to see another fantastic example of student surprises. 

Project Wonder - Day 2 - Birds

The birds.

I've always loved sky gazing. Stars, treetops, but I'm especially into birds. I'm not sure why, they just seem to get me. I love thinking that they're always going somewhere and every movement seems so intentional.

Before moving to Ghana, I read that it was an excellent place for bird-watching  So naturally, I've been scouting the skies for bright-coloured feathers, darting in and out of the mango and palm trees.

Save for a brief glance of a kingfisher, I've seen little other than ravens and pigeons since arriving here a month ago. Don't get me wrong, I like ravens and pigeons. But ravens and pigeons do not make tourist-touted birding haven.

I nearly fell over the school balcony in my haste to photograph this rare (to me) kingfisher. 

Suddenly today, like magic, I was greeted this morning by a teeny purple-throated hummingbird, dancing and dashing and posing above the empty desks. She was so enchanting. I followed her obediently to the door, and as she flew I noticed a white "macaw-esque" bird (I'm not a serious birder) just swooping by the balcony.

I didn't have my camera fast enough to capture these two winged beauties, nor for the other blue-tinged specimen, nor for the "eagle-ish" bird of prey on the school roof. I DID manage to spy through my lens a few new species at the end of the day.

Bet you wish I had a telephoto lens! 

Bird love.

In total, I probably noticed about 7 or 8 different species of bird today.  Like, have they been here the whole time? Have I been too busy looking at the ground? Is it possible that I saw them without noticing?

Today, I'm grateful for avian diversity. And I can't help but wonder at the timing of the universe.

Thanks for reading. Yours in variety,

Brandon