Experiences...
The room was filled with voices, laughter, and tears. The young woman opened gift after gift, relishing in the delight of a set of new experiences awaiting her; marriage. Each gift she unveiled was brought up to the view of all, and the voices echoed in the room. I fell back into the memory of my experience while my wife and I were engaged. Ours was an experience rich with love, laughter and echoes of friends as well.
Each time my co-worker raised a gift for all to see, I could tell she was closer to her day, closer to her new life, closer to the experience she has chosen. I know she will delight in it.
A student of mine worked tirelessly on a math question. It asked her to multiply a 'positive' number by a 'negative' number. She had no experience with this type of problem. She asked for help. I wanted to tell how to work out this kind of problem but instead, I asked her to draw on her experiences with multiplication. I asked her to think about what multiplication really meant...(repeated addition). Her eyes wandered from mine and gazed outward as her mind worked. She thought aloud and I witnessed her experiences with math guide her to the answer. She realized on her own that the 'positive' multiplied by the 'negative' will produce a 'negative' answer.
Whether we are on the cusp of entering into a new experience or drawing on our previous ones, it all comes down to individual choices. We choose how we experience our lives, and thus choose how we live in our experiences. For children and adults alike, we are in a constant state of experience. It is why we have chosen to be here. Delight in the contemplation of a new experience as my soon-to-be-wedded coworker does; lean on your previous experiences as my student has done. And in the doing of either, relish the gift of life that has been afforded to you; drape yourself in the experiences that have shaped you; welcome with loving embraces the experiences that await you.
Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten
The room was filled with voices, laughter, and tears. The young woman opened gift after gift, relishing in the delight of a set of new experiences awaiting her; marriage. Each gift she unveiled was brought up to the view of all, and the voices echoed in the room. I fell back into the memory of my experience while my wife and I were engaged. Ours was an experience rich with love, laughter and echoes of friends as well.
Each time my co-worker raised a gift for all to see, I could tell she was closer to her day, closer to her new life, closer to the experience she has chosen. I know she will delight in it.
A student of mine worked tirelessly on a math question. It asked her to multiply a 'positive' number by a 'negative' number. She had no experience with this type of problem. She asked for help. I wanted to tell how to work out this kind of problem but instead, I asked her to draw on her experiences with multiplication. I asked her to think about what multiplication really meant...(repeated addition). Her eyes wandered from mine and gazed outward as her mind worked. She thought aloud and I witnessed her experiences with math guide her to the answer. She realized on her own that the 'positive' multiplied by the 'negative' will produce a 'negative' answer.
Whether we are on the cusp of entering into a new experience or drawing on our previous ones, it all comes down to individual choices. We choose how we experience our lives, and thus choose how we live in our experiences. For children and adults alike, we are in a constant state of experience. It is why we have chosen to be here. Delight in the contemplation of a new experience as my soon-to-be-wedded coworker does; lean on your previous experiences as my student has done. And in the doing of either, relish the gift of life that has been afforded to you; drape yourself in the experiences that have shaped you; welcome with loving embraces the experiences that await you.
Mr. Casten
Jan. 28, 2011
Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten
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