Tag Archives: passion

Closing night

My youngest daughter just had her last performance as Viola disguised as Cesario in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. I got to see 3 of her 5 performances and this was easily the best one. All the performers were having fun with their roles and the audience was lively and enjoyed the show.

Stage performances are something I’ve grown to love ever since meeting my wife, and I truly enjoy seeing my daughter on stage. But the show itself is such a small part of what goes into a play. Three months of rehearsals with full weekends given up, and arriving home after 10pm four days during the week led to these performances. My daughter said after the show, “I have no idea what I’m going to do with all this time now that I’m done.”

Live performances are like that: Hours and hours of work leading to a series of shows, and then it’s over. Getting to be on stage in front of an audience is the reward, but alas it is fleeting, and the show comes to an end.

An artist finishes with an art piece that lives on. A performer presents their art work on stage and then it is over, and only memories remain. The performance must come to an end, a closing night, a last time to share what hours of preparation went into. The play starts with the well known verse, “If music be the food of love, play on.” But for the stage performer there comes a closing night, and the music comes to an end.

Pessimism vs Optimism

How often do we give up on something before we even start?

… Don’t try something because the thought of failure is too great, or embarrassing?

… Decide that success is out of reach.

We blunt our own tools with pessimism. And while blind optimism isn’t necessarily good, a little optimism can go a long way, especially when our default is usually pessimism.

Choose to be optimistic, to seek out reasons to be fr and feel the positive difference in your life.

“Pessimism blunts the tools you need to succeed. Optimism is a faith that leads to success. “ ~ Bruce Lee

The power of a good teacher

Last night I asked this question onTwitter:

I didn’t know that I would become a teacher until I was almost 30, so I can’t say that any teachers influenced me to become a teacher, but I had many that inspired the kind of teacher I wanted to be.

Mr. Lapoint taught me not to be a marshmallow in class, and I started my career telling kids to speak up, go beyond the expected answers, and to not be marshmallows. That said, this motorcycle loving hippie was tough as nails and had high expectations… and scared me a little.

Mrs. Lane taught me to love fiction and helped me find my writing voice. She was one of my favourites and I think of her as inspiring me to be the kind of teacher I want to be.

Mrs. Forster made me appreciate social studies. She also stepped up to coach a sport she knew nothing about, and encouraged me to become a player coach… in a way this was inspiration to becoming a teacher since continuing on as a coach is where my passion for working with kids came from.

Mr. Towe taught me that I have a creative side.

Mr. Harrison made learning fun.

I had other teachers that influenced me and helped me know what kind of teacher I wouldn’t want to be, but that’s not the spirit with which I started this post and I won’t mention any names.

Mr. Greven was never my teacher, but he taught in the high school where I worked as a lifeguard and coach, and he came to work every day whistling with joy. And when a kid was late with an assignment, he would tap me and ask me to nudge the kid, because he knew I had a good relationship with them as their coach.

Overall, I had many good and great teachers, and while they may not be the reason I became a teacher, they gave me respect for the profession, and left me with positive learning experiences.

Teachers make a difference!

Showcasing their passion in school

I have a friend that is a master craftsmen. He routinely helps me with work, like installing my deck, and French doors to replace a bay window to the deck… And in fairness I should say that I help him rather than ‘he helps me’. I become the inept assistant and he puts up with my help. 🤣

He reminded me today that he got a ‘P’ (Pass) in woodworking in school. The pass was a ‘gift’ that the teacher gave him after he helped clean up the shop at the end of the year. He had the skills to do well in the course, but he didn’t jump through the hoops, making all the simple projects required by the teacher.

This makes me think of the kid who runs her own business but is too busy to do a good job in her Entrepreneurship course. Or the musician that is creating his own music, or artist selling their own art online, but getting a ‘B’ in their respective Music and Art classes because they are just doing what needs to be done in class.

Each of these examples make me wonder:

What more we can do in our schools to showcase the out-of-school passions and interests of students, while they are at school?

With the knowledge that we may be moving to some level of blended learning to start the year in September, this might be an ideal time to ask this question!

Elton John Farewell Tour

Elton John has been performing on stage for 50 years. He has had the opportunity to follow his passion his entire life. Having recently watched his autobiographical movie, it is evident that fame brought him many lows to go with the highs, but not many people get to follow their dreams for 50 years!

And although he is in his 70’s, he put on an amazing show! He was on stage for almost 3 hours, his only breaks being a few minutes between a quick change of outfit, and before his encore. He belted out old favourite songs like he was on tour for the first time. He was gracious to the audience and to his band. And he spoke about his charity to support Aids victims, a charity he started and that has raised almost a half billion dollars.

Not everyone can achieve what Elton John has, but he stands as a model of what’s possible when you follow your passion.