Bringing authenticity into your life and it's consequences.

As we look at the world around us, we see that no two things are identical. No two snowflakes are ever the same – nor are they intended to be. Rather, each form is a distinct expression, and this applies to us as well. The universe does not intend our life to be a copy of someone else’s life. We are each magnificently unique, and the inner impulse to express this is what drives us to be authentic. - 

A move into greater authenticity is always a move into greater levels of empowerment, creative self-expression, and overall wellbeing

This is because we are moving towards our truer and greater self. Our interactions with the world and with others become more fulfilling and more alive. Our joy and fulfillment rise to higher levels -

 See more at: http://www.chopra.com/ccl/authenticity-a-closer-look?utm_source=October%20Newsletter%20&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=October_2013_Newsletter#sthash.x5oIWswU.dpuf 

Education is different from indoctrination.

A good education is one that liberates, empowers, and enhances individuals, not one that imposes and instills what external agencies believe individuals should learn. Education is different from indoctrination.

Ya Nabi (S.A.W).. a beautiful naat

kamli walay mein qurban teri shan per,

sub ki bigri banana tera kaam hai,

thokrain kha ke girna mera kaam hai,

her qadam pe uthana tera kaam hai

Faiz jari tera ta qayamat rahay

teri nabiyon pe qaayam imamat rahay,

teri naatain sunana mera kaam hai,

mere gham ko mitana tera kaam hai ..

Saaqiya jaan qurban tere jaam per,

ho nigaah-e-karam apne khudaam per,

chor di hum ne kashti tere naam per,

ab kinaray lagana tera kaam hai.

tu ne qatray ko dekha gohar ker diya,

tu ne zarray ko dekha to zar ker diya,

tu ne habshi to rashk-e-Qamar ker diya

ulta sooraj phirana tera kaam hai. 

Education is meant to be an active open-ended process of exploration and discovery.

"Education isn't something that happens to children. It's not a pre-packaged sequence of out-of-context skills and information and it's certainly not something that schools should be forcing large groups of age-segregated children to passively absorb at exactly the same time and in exactly the same way. All the while resorting to a whole bunch of external rewards and punishments to get them to do it. What education is meant to be is an active open-ended process of exploration and discovery. It's one that children are entirely capable of directing themselves.."

~Chris Mercogliano~

TED Talk: The Self-Organizing Child
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0fg73WnLWQ

What learning really is..

"I had incredible teachers. And as I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself — my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity — all of these things came from how I was parented and taught.

And none of these qualities that I’ve just mentioned — none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success — none of these qualities that make me who I am ... can be tested.

I said before that I had incredible teachers. And that’s true. But it’s more than that. My teachers were EMPOWERED to teach me. Their time wasn’t taken up with a bunch of test prep — this silly drill and kill nonsense that any serious person knows doesn’t promote real learning. No, my teachers were free to approach me and every other kid in that classroom like an individual puzzle. They took so much care in figuring out who we were and how to best make the lessons resonate with each of us. They were empowered to unlock our potential. They were allowed to be teachers.

Now don’t get me wrong. I did have a brush with standardized tests at one point. I remember because my mom went to the principal’s office and said, ‘My kid ain’t taking that. It’s stupid, it won’t tell you anything and it’ll just make him nervous.’ That was in the ’70s when you could talk like that.

I shudder to think that these tests are being used today to control where funding goes.

I don’t know where I would be today if my teachers’ job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test. If their very survival as teachers was not based on whether I actually fell in love with the process of learning but rather if I could fill in the right bubble on a test. If they had to spend most of their time desperately drilling us and less time encouraging creativity and original ideas; less time knowing who we were, seeing our strengths and helping us realize our talents.

I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if that was the type of education I had. I sure as hell wouldn’t be here. I do know that.

This has been a horrible decade for teachers. I can’t imagine how demoralized you must feel. But I came here today to deliver an important message to you: As I get older, I appreciate more and more the teachers that I had growing up. And I’m not alone. There are millions of people just like me.

So the next time you’re feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself called “overpaid;” the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything. ... Please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you, and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you and we will always have your back."

~ Matt Damon, Save Our Schools March 7/30/2011

A video of the full speech can be viewed here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Jh3Z52KV0

American Teacher (2011 documentary narrated by Matt)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24KHuunPogo

How to succeed

“Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person [or persons] other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it... Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it”

~ Viktor E. Frankl,
Man's Search for Meaning