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Marianne Scerbo (Longchamp)
Hi Everybody! I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather during our holiday weekend. This forum is so much fun that I am over here reading instead of writing my lesson plans like I should be, so tomorrow I will be cursing you all out as I struggle over my lessons!!! :)
For Elmer:
How was Bikhram class today? I recently attended my first workshop and I fell in love with the practice. It was a 2 hour workshop and after about 10 minutes I went to another plane in the universe. I ceased to struggle It was an enlightening experience as well as thoroughly cleansing - I removed tons of toxins from my system. The aftereffects were amazing as well. Overall, it felt like it was kind of an out of body experience. I just signed up for another workshop in the middle of June - right after I finish teaching for the summer.
Are you coming to the reunion? I would love to talk to you about the teachings of Joseph Campbell and the ideal of bliss. In my opinion, following ones' bliss is an ideal that defies conventional definition. It involves following the life path that brings us closest to union with our mind and soul, thus the connection to yoga. It is something we can continually strive towards but is rarely completely attainable, in the physical sense. For me, it embodies a sense of personal responsibility, not only to my loved ones but as a microcosm of the world in the larger sense. I also don't think bliss means total happiness in a selfish way. It involves struggle and sacrifice to get to the place we are meant to be in our lives. For me, I feel that I have come closer than ever before in my life to attaining bliss during this year of teaching. I have learned two important lessons this year: humility and gratitude. Each has served to give me a sense of contentment and acceptance (in the sense of accepting who we are), and that is amazingly blissful.
As far as my class goes, I would like to think it is interesting, but you'd have to ask my students what they think!!! The quest myth is applicable to almost all of the works we studied this year (American Lit - love it!) and segues nicely into their own sense of purpose and where they are headed as they prepare for the future. It also ties in nicely to the concept of the American Dream, and how it has evolved and changed over the decades, as well as if it really exists at all.
And yes, Morris Catholic laid the foundation for the way I see the world today. However, I don't think I was ready at the time to branch out and take it to a higher level of thinking. It took quite a few years for me to get to the place I needed to be to be open enough to accept what was laid before me for the taking. Also, your comments about the consciousness of today's students is an interesting one. I try to instill in them that they need to see themselves connected to the cosmos through their own personal choices and decisions, thus the element of responsibility again. Every selfish decision they choose to make has a negative effect on something in the larger sense, as well as the opposite with a purposeful decision.
Wow, I just saw how long my post was, sorry! You know these English people, we just keep writing and writing...
sorry about that!
For Maureen Bezold:
Boy, my father sure gets around, doesn't he? You never know where he'll turn up! Thanks for the offer to help with the pix; Carol Vallone sent me instructions, so I'll have to see if I can work it out. If not, I'll call for an SOS!
So much fun to read these stories! Gotta go - heavy eyelids need sleep.
Love to all,
Marianne
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