dear john

a short response: trust your (and others’) gut (itch/heart/curiosity/whatever).

even though (to me) legit detox/freedom won’t happen until it’s all of us.. and so until then.. not legit itch et al.. but only way to get there is by ongoingly being unconditional/nonjudgmental about the legit ness of anyone’s itch.. good to keep reminding yourself/others of this

a longer response: to me.. the key of detox is people believing any itch they have is legit and worth chasing.. or at the very least worth listening to.

which is hard to do w/in the system.. w/in any system where people are telling other people what to do (ie: warning ness et al)

so ..

find time (for yourself and for those you are ‘ed-ing’) to think about and do whatever you/they want.. (again.. tough do w/in the system.. ie: what do call each other.. teacher/educator/students.. all very toxic.. i’ll refer to whoever you’re ed-ing as kids from here on)

find out the non negotiable end goal (supposed to’s) of your job/title.. turn it into some sort of list that you can hand over to the kids.. (kind of like sugata mitra did with the hole in the wall experiment).. provide resources/’cheats’/time-with-each-other .. so they can shorten the time that would ‘normally’ be spent assuring they’re able to jump through the ‘proper’ hoops at their ‘allotted’ time.

whatever time you free up.. try to make space for them to literally do whatever they want.. or at least to start thinking about and believing they can.. and that it’s fine/good to change their mind .. whenever they want (ie: the it is me ness)

again.. very hard to do w/in the system.. because very hard to believe it’s legit to think/dream/notice for yourself.. to follow your own itch when you know people are watching/recording/evaluating/predetermining you.. even a raised eyebrow keeps you from that belief/freedom.

so keep reminding yourself/kids/parents that ed is a game .. not normal/natural.. not even leading to the ‘successes/ends’ promised.. but until there is a nother way for all of us.. this is one of the cope\ing mechanisms/roads that can be used w/in the system

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added page to respond to john’s email:

Hi, 

Thanks for your work. I find it inspiring and wanted to connect and give thanks.

Recently, I’ve taken on a role as an educator. I’ve been trying to learn more about myself and learn more about learning. I feel a weight of responsibility and a weight of uncertainty. I wonder if you might have a word of advice for someone beginning. I am interested in learning more about detox. Is there a “how-to” or is it more of a leap? I find myself still longing to undo the doing that speaks, and to let something else become thought rather than think things through. I wonder about the role of intervention. Especially if thoughts are moments of freedom, sites of freedom. I wonder how I might help inaugurate a fraction of freedom within entangled networks and patterns carrying themselves out. Just someone here, attempting to carry out one more quiet revolution.

Thank you.

John

metanoia94 (at) proton (dot) me

my reply:

hey john..

responded here: dear john

(easiest way for me.. and that way you have some links if you want any)

fyi: monika51295 (at) gmail (dot) com gets to me faster

best

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