I am so incredibly blessed to take on the title and mantle of teacher. Being a mother and a teacher are the two most rewarding roles that I could serve in my life. Both of them however are riddled with complications and other interesting elements.
Being a mom isn’t always a breeze, it is filled with worry (if you subscribe to it) and upset and a mélange of emotions that you don’t even know you have until you are feeling it. It is kind of like exercising and then finding muscles that you didn’t know you have. It has become very evident to me that my pleasure of being a mom can easily be sabotaged by my own demands and expectations. I see where my upset is born and the reality is most of the time it is just because I am busy wanting something to be what it is NOT.
Now being a Teacher has this whole other dimension to it and that dimension is: objectivity. Similar to both parenting and teaching, one of the greatest pleasures is being a witness to someone’s growth. As a teacher, I can sometimes almost feel guilty at the amount of pleasure I get in watching live time transformation. The beauty of doing this for so many years now is with my experience I am enjoying increased confidence which benefits each student who is in my classroom and within reach of my influence. Guiding these students and working with them to support their transformation happens with more ease and grace then ever and transformation happens in a much shorter time frame than ever.
But the temptation to feel guilty is only because I get so much more out of supporting and teaching others than they do. I am sure of this because through the time I invest in my preparation of a lesson or a Sunday celebration I am basking in material and truths and realities that are constantly pulling me to a higher state of expression. Sure it is possible to keep it all very cerebral but that is not me. For me – I must grow, I must expand in consciousness and I must be always in the unfolding of my Divine Expression. If you want to be extraordinarily happy, teach. Take your expertise and give it away, whatever it is. The world will benefit but never as much as you.
The element of teacher that took some getting used to was watching the students as they grew in their friendship with each other and would leave to gather, make plans, go out but NOT with me. While I constantly fall in love with all of my students, I had to learn that I was their teacher and not their friend and this definitely took some getting used to.
So, thank you to all my students, my clients, my members. Thank you for mirroring back to me where I must grow. Thank you for the pleasure of service. Thank you for allowing me to witness your truth as you find your liberation from the collective way of thinking. Thank you for your bravery and your heart. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to live into a new truth and bask in the glory of one of the greatest professions there is – TEACHER.
I totally relate to your description of the rush of watching a student grow. I actually get goose-bumps and tears fill my eyes. I, too, feel very blessed to have that opportunity many times during my work-week.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the roles of teacher and student (I have been both for many, many years):
In my own personal experience, I have come to believe that it is only when a student is elevated in some way to the status of “colleague” that the barrier dissolves.
At times the elevation occurs due to the student’s hard work (gaining skills, passing exams, earning credits, certificates, licenses or degrees).
At other times the elevation occurs because both the teacher and the student come to realize that each of them may learn something valuable from the other.
When both participants are free to bring into focus those things which stimulate growth, and take advantage of new information that surfaces due to their interactions, then the benefits of colleague status become obvious to the teacher and the student (and to anyone who is witness to the magical interactions).
I believe this is true with students of all ages and, in my experience as a teacher, the beautiful dance between my students and I most often falters when an unnecessary need for control rears its head and gets in the way of a mutual learning opportunity fueled by love and respect.
I am grateful that sometimes I catch myself and open my eyes to what is truly being set before me, and not react to what I initially perceived it to be.
My little students, my adult students, and my adult supervisors, instructors and professors all teach me and inspire me so much; and for this I am so grateful.
Namiste,
Noelle