Student Journal Entries

31 creative works found

• Everything
• Images
• T-Shirts
• Writing
• Journals

• It's the little things . . .
  by Helen Bascom

  I tutor children who are having trouble keeping up in school, and are failing. I received this beautiful hand- made card from one of my s…

  I tutor children who are having trouble keeping up in school, and are failing. I received this beautiful hand- made card from one of my students tonight. This little fellow was failing when we started tutoring. On his last report card he had three As. I’m very proud of his progress.

• Straight A's - time for some bubbly
  by Darren Stones

  Sorry folks, I can’t help myself – feeling happy. Just received my final assessment for my Freelance Photography course with Thomson E…

  Sorry folks, I can’t help myself – feeling happy. Just received my final assessment for my Freelance Photography course with Thomson Education Direct – it was an A. I achieved ten straight A’s for the course and I’m rapt. I didn’t take an easy way out when doing my assignments. I did more than required and that has been recognised by my tutor. I’ve just commenced the Professional Freelance Journalism course with Thomson Education Direct, and to date it looks very interesting. Time for a glass or two of bubbly. Cheers.

• PNG vs JPG
  by Stephen Mitchell

  I learn a new trick every day: Here’s one I somehow missed seeing the last time I commented on Davoid...

  I learn a new trick every day: Here’s one I somehow missed seeing the last time I commented on Davoid ’s article entitled : Resolution, Pixels, And DPI ’ First, always save your original photo or artwork as a PNG (Portable Network Graphics) formatted file from the start. Do all your editing, such as color corrections and cropping, on this PNG file till you get the final image you wish to submit. The reason for this is that the PNG type format is a completely lossless format, and will remain the same quality irregardless of the number of times it is being saved. ‘ Wow, who knew that? Some day I am the teacher, other days I am the student. That’s what’s so cool about life: Nobody is perfect.

• My students are sick of me talking about RB
  by pinkstinks

  I lecture at the Qld college of art and my students are sick of me talking about Red Bubble. I have even given them for assessment the t…

  I lecture at the Qld college of art and my students are sick of me talking about Red Bubble. I have even given them for assessment the task of uploading some images on RB. They count the ammount of times I mention RB in a lecture. Am I an addict! I know I have got alot of other people hook ed I may also be a dealer!

• Musings on Japan #03: Students I loathed
  by BigFatRobot

  99% of the time I adored teaching. There was such a buzz when your students got it, and used the language you had taught them with confid…

  99% of the time I adored teaching. There was such a buzz when your students got it, and used the language you had taught them with confidence and zeal. Everybody who knows me would attest to my calmness and joy of both life and people. However, teaching some of nature’s horrors made me wish ill of some. Yep, there were a very few students that I wished would burn in the everlasting flames of Hell. Here they are for your reading pleasure… (The names have been changed, let’s just call each one “brat”, and number them sequentially.) Brat #1 / The following was a typical list of my commands to Brat #1, which I had to constantly roar over his unrelenting shrieks: “Brat #1, stop hitting him”, “Brat #1, put that down”, “Brat #1, be quiet”, “Brat #1, take that out of your mouth”, “Brat #1, get your head out of her skirt”,“Brat #1, staplers are not rayguns”, “Brat #1, stop bleeding” Brat #2 / Not so much an individual, but a whole class! The following is the beginning of my handover notes, the joyous day that I was finally rid of them: “This class made my decision to resign a very, very easy one. It is populated by the most malicious children I have come across. One, you will soon discover, is a mountain-sized, hairy knuckled Neanderthal, more about “her” later… / Do not employ an ounce of “genki-ness” with this mob, stride into that classroom full of vengeful fury and get medieval on their asses!” Brat #3 / The formerly mentioned mountain-sized, hairy knuckled Neanderthal rates her own special mention. She was, according to her birth certificate, an 11 year old girl. Personally I thought she was a Russian sailor that went AWOL and, in order to evade authorities, decided to take on the guise of an 11 year old Japanese girl. Am I the only one who knows the truth? According to everybody the poor girl hated everything intensely, and every thursday at 4pm, for 1 hour, I was her everything. Brat #4 / Again I will flout the grammatical rule of singularity and combine a plurality of little shits into one pooey mess, now known as Brat #4. The following are my handover notes for the next suffering teacher. “Out of the 100 or so students I teach, I only dislike 3 of the them. These two cackling little witches are 2nd and 3rd on the list (this was, of course, before the hells of brat #2 and #3 entered my miserable existence.) If this was Lord of the Flies, I would have been dinner long ago. However, I have fought a bitter and prolonged battle with them, and in the last month I have experienced a detente of sorts. They are North Korea, and I am South Korea – I suspect they have nuclear capabilities . . .” Oh, the joy of teaching children.

• The Death of "Common Sense" by Lori Borgman
  by Nathan Johnson

  Obituary of the late Mr. “Common Sense” Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, “Common Sense”, who has been with …

  Obituary of the late Mr. “Common Sense” Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, “Common Sense”, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and Maybe it was my fault. “Common Sense” lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 -year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. “Common Sense” lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. “Common Sense” lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. “Common Sense” took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. “Common Sense” finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. “Common Sense” was preceded in death by his parents, “Truth” and “Trust”; his wife, “Discretion”; his daughter, “Responsibility”; and his son, “Reason”. He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; “I Know My Rights”, “Someone Else Is To Blame”, and “I’m A Victim”. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

• First Illustration Client!!! Best feeling eva
  by shanmclean

  Im sorry if it seems like I’ve just written this to boast (I havn’t) / I am just really excited becaue I have just sold two illustrations…

  Im sorry if it seems like I’ve just written this to boast (I havn’t) / I am just really excited becaue I have just sold two illustrations / to a greeting card company in London, and I couldn’t be more excited! So excited…. just wanted to tell someone lol. thanks for reading! Shan xo / p.s their is a link on my profile to my Graphic Design bubble if you were interested in having a look at the cards :) /

• 2008 Graduates...check it!
  by hahpistuff

  I have slapped my 2008 graduation kitty (the skellie kitty of course!) on a bunch of new products over at my other gallery and I thought …

  I have slapped my 2008 graduation kitty (the skellie kitty of course!) on a bunch of new products over at my other gallery and I thought I would share! They make great gifts…seriously, they do! I wish I was graduating from something so I could buy something and not look silly! ;) 2008 Tie-this is badass! / 2008 Tote Bag / 2008 mug-this looks awesome on the frosted mugs! / 2008 Keychain / 2008 Stickers / 2008 magnet Thanks for looking! / Shannon

• Thankyou and Sorry!
  by Alistair Wilson

  Thanks to everyone for their nice and thoughtful comments on my images, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to all of them as I’ve bee…

  Thanks to everyone for their nice and thoughtful comments on my images, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to all of them as I’ve been flat out with Uni work. I really do appreciate them all so thanks! :)

• Outside the comfort zone
  by Jodie Noonan

  I am being pushed – and yet pushing myself at the same time. The rules are … / 100 ISO only! / No more auto white balance / NO POST PRO…

  I am being pushed – and yet pushing myself at the same time. The rules are … / 100 ISO only! / No more auto white balance / NO POST PROCESSING whatsoever / No Chimping and / compose the shot first (no zooming in and out to get the shot) I am sure it will be ok after a couple of weeks and I can certainly see the benefit. . . just seems mighty daunting now. Are we relying on the digital age we are in to much?

• Featured Frog
  by Crockpot

  I Wouldn’t Dissect You! has been featured in the Reptiles and Amphibians...

  I Wouldn’t Dissect You! has been featured in the Reptiles and Amphibians group! Thanks Erin!!

• Seeing the world differently
  by Jodie Noonan

  5 weeks in and i feel like I am seeing the world differently… Is it that my eyes are more open or am I just more aware of what is ar…

  5 weeks in and i feel like I am seeing the world differently… Is it that my eyes are more open or am I just more aware of what is around me? A bit of both I expect. It is an enjoyable experience so far – although I am not all that happy with my images. I can see changes in my shots and my thought process is far different than only 4 weeks ago. It certainly is interesting

• A Student of Natural History
  by jkp07

  Like many people I am fascinated by natural history. As an ecologist I have seen many wonderous things in the natural world. Unfortunatle…

  Like many people I am fascinated by natural history. As an ecologist I have seen many wonderous things in the natural world. Unfortunatley my job seems to have been to witness the destruction of all this. I am in awe of some of the images of plants and animals that are shown here. The people who make these images clearly share my sadness at what is being lost. The compassion that is evident in these images is a great comfort. The skill and dedication of the contributors is humbling and inspirational. Whilst this is clearly a lot of fun it also a great opportunity to learn. I seek to improve my technical skill at image production. I feel I have something to say and that there may even be an audiance…one day…

• Unexpected news *UPDATE*
  by LizVengeance

  Well, I went for a sonogram the other week, and when I was getting it the doctors looked really concerned they took a few tests and th…

  Well, I went for a sonogram the other week, and when I was getting it the doctors looked really concerned they took a few tests and the results were this: / I lost the baby. / because of the medication I am currently on, and because of the date of conception and because I didn’t stop taking my daily meds, it eventually killed my baby (i think that’s why it died, i can’t be for sure because I was so upset). so I’m taking this as a life lesson that you never know what the future will bring / and that anything and everything can stop just as soon as it started so I’ve been thinking of the outcome of things i do instead of just deciding on what I’m doing in any aspect of my life / and actually / things are getting a hell of a lot better =]

• Unexpected news
  by LizVengeance

  So, I have recently found out that I am with child. I think it’s amazing, even though I am 17, still in high school, I’m not having an ab…

  So, I have recently found out that I am with child. I think it’s amazing, even though I am 17, still in high school, I’m not having an abortion. I am going to give my baby to a family that cannot conceive. I told the father, and he told his parents, and long story short: We can’t have ANY contact with each other. So I will be in this alone. This is going to be a very hard and difficult journey, but in the end, I will have grown as a person (and around my belly, lol) and a family will have their prayers answered of having a child. I have my band, all my friends, and everyone at work behind me on this, so it will make up for the lack of a father (even though I know it won’t be the same). / I’ll have LOTS of photos of my pregnancy, and I might start writing another addition to my story that I’ll be turning into a screenplay. So I’m not seeing this as a negative situation. I’m making the best of it. And on top, I will staying in school until I’m not physically able to go. So expect great things from me in the near future =]

• Cadenza! - Short Story by Jon Clair
  by Jon Clair

  Cadenza! fugue: / / n. 1. Music An imitative composition in which themes are related successively, harmonically, melodicall…

  Cadenza! fugue: / / n. 1. Music An imitative composition in which themes are related successively, harmonically, melodically in all the voices, to form the subject, from which the countersubject forms an interwoven accompaniment to balance the piece. 2. Psychiatry fugue state: a) A state of altered consciousness under which a person experiences a dissociative break in identity, and perceives some threat. / b) The state of mind achieved by gifted musicians attaining a high state of attention and focus to their art. * * Her delicate fingers waver above the correct notes; hold back just at the perfectly timed moment. She presses her fingers against the cold, ivory key an instance too late; the tempo is ruined. ‘Not as though it was ever there to begin with,’ she thinks. Refocussing, she flutters her fingertips above the key bed once more. She pecks at the keys, and is observably content with her rhythm and flow. This never used to be such an involved piece for her; fugues used to come naturally, simply flower out of her fingertips and blossom into subject and countersubject, exposition and episode. Her fingers would travel across the board and the music would melt together like butter and sugar. She poises herself and strikes the keys mindfully and assuredly. As her eyes strain to follow the music, she attempts to block out the chatter of the children on the floor behind her. They coo and giggle, not listening to their mother’s laborious music, but instead captivated by the bright and shiny toys. As she nears the end of the second exposition, she falters and chokes. Slamming her palms against the keys, she haphazardly crushes sound from the piano. Striking the keyboard a second and third time, an explosion of discordant notes fills the room. The children fall silent as they turn to look at her. She shoots them a contemptuous glance evoked by the piece and they both begin to cry. The few tears quickly grow into fits of howling and screaming. As she picks them up to take them to bed (they must be overtired), she realises that what once was overwhelming applause and cheering has been replaced by a couple of shrieking children. Instead of standing ovations, she is screamed at and rather than throwing rose petals, they whine at her feet. From their bedroom, she returns to her piano stool and surveys the room. Even though it’s no less quiet than just a few minutes ago, it does, however, seem a great deal emptier. The floor is littered with food, toys and a scattering of rubbish. Old newspapers and stale bread; this has become her life. She spins herself around, and loses herself, staring straight through Bach’s The Art of the Fugue. Her mind travels back to her university days, to the London Conservatorium of Music. The entrant examiner yawned as she sat on stage, furiously and feverishly playing her piece, what she considered to be perfectly. He had uninterestedly scribbled something down, yet she had still been accepted. After her first day of uni, she went with a newfound friend to a start of term party. It was just like any other students’ party: noise, loud music, drinking, thumping base –headaches. She had only gone to meet people. She was, after all, new in the big city. She wandered through the smoke-filled rooms, examining the people. They were too crass, and too drunk. They wore fashionable clothes, which made hers looks like rags. The girls wore make-up and high heels, and the guys clustered around their cars in packs, as though preparing for the hunt. She sought salvation in a lounge room, away from the centre of things. One or two of the other quieter people tried to strike up conversation, but she had neither the patience nor the capacity to be sociable. Bored and overwhelmed, she looked around the room for some escape from the pervading sense of suffocation. There. In the corner; a small, upright piano was hidden in plain sight. She sat down and lifted its cumbersome lid, and shuffled through the loose sheet music before deciding upon The Art of the Fugue, by Bach. Pressing firmly on the keys, she could hardly hear the music: her chords were drowned out by the thumping beat and pumping base of the insufferable gathering. Pressing harder again, and listening more intently, she endeavoured onwards. She mustered herself against the stereo, and focused on her piece. Her eyes became dreamy and her shoulders relaxed, as she was lost among the spiralling chords and the crushing crescendos. She was entrapped, completely absorbed by the music as it worked its magic. The subject sang to her, and the countersubject sang back. Note against note, the counterpoint fell upon her– the music, heavy with her enthusiasm, zeal and raw talent, encompassed her entire being. She cadenced to a stop, her grip releasing the last note from her clutches. It fluttered to the floor and echoed off the walls. And then there was silence. Only once she had lifted her fingers from the keyboard, did she re-enter the room. There It was impossible for her to tell for just how long she’d been playing. As the music washed from her ears, a disconcerting feeling came over. It was silent. She turned around, slowly, unsure of what to expect. There, gathered into that tiny room, stood the entire party. Someone had switched off the stereo, and nobody felt the need to turn it back on. They stood there and stared in admiration, in awe of this new girl. One person began to clap, slowly but confidently. A few more joined in, then a few more, and eventually all else was drowned out by their applause as she tried to hide a tiny smile. * * “Waaaah!�? A cry from the youngest tears her from reverie. She smooths back her hair, and pulls her chin down to her chest. Everything aches; her muscles, her mind, her veins, her heart. A sense of futility begins to creep in, to sneak up on her. Before apathy and cynicism can sink in too far, she rallies herself up again. She shuts her eyes, closing them tightly. Reclaiming her hearing from the little banshees, she trails her fingers along the sleek and lustrous surface of the key bed. She begins. The sense of foreboding that usually accompanied the beginning of this piece was no where to be found. She completes the first section flawlessly, and by the second has descended through the music. The staves float around her, spiralling through the air. As the rhythm dances across the keys, she leans deeper and deeper into the piano. Further and further in she leans, as though willing herself to be one with the music. She strikes the crotchets heavily and pinches the quavers out lightly. The end nears– the unfinished end. Her mind races as she struggles to envision a way in which close the most famous of the incomplete pieces. She nearly chokes again as the staff runs empty on the page. However, someone else takes over. Someone who has been sitting within her, sitting dormant all this time. The virtuoso leans forward and takes the reins. A flow of improvised melody and harmony erupts from the piano. Succumbing to the music, she truly learns the meaning of cadenza. Time loses all meaning, dirty kitchens no longer matter. Everything seems heavenly. As the final chord resonate from the crown of her head down to the soles of her feet, she exhales a heavy breath and opens her eyes. Blinding lights greet her, and a vaguely familiar, yet estranged feeling overcomes her. It’s silent; her children have fallen peacefully and thankfully to sleep. Inspiration inhabits her heart again, released to flow through her veins once more. Jon Clair Note: / This short story has been written in creative response to the poem “Suburban Sonnet” by Gwen Harwood, and due credit for her work should be given where appropriate.

• THE LOSS OF A CHILD
  by Valli Boldini aka Frankiesgirl

  Where can one begin to imagine what it must feel like to lose a child? Who ever expects a child to die before a parent? But when it happe…

  Where can one begin to imagine what it must feel like to lose a child? Who ever expects a child to die before a parent? But when it happens what can one do to stop the hurt and anger? The feelings of emptiness this family must feel inside will never be filled again. The two siblings, a brother and sister, will never be able to accept that their younger brother will no longer be there to tease, laugh with them, share the years ahead with them. They no longer have a special little brother to be proud of. He can no longer make them enjoy the beauty of being an aunt and uncle. And his parents? They will never enjoy their youngest son’s grandchildren or the life he had planned for himself. Last night I received a phone call telling me that my friend’s son, Vincent, a brilliant final year student at Cambridge University, was knocked off his mountain bike by a car and died. Just like that, in an instance his life was ended. He was a student who had so much to live for, a son whose family have been split in two and will never understand why it had to happen to him. A youngest child who died in such a stupid way. His father John had to make the longest journey of his life to identify his baby boy. He said he looked like he was sleeping, so why couldn’t he wake up and it all be just a bad dream? Today his mother will have to make the journey to get the body; cold words, as cold as he is now that his soul has left forever. What must the driver who took away all this hope and happiness be feeling? He was going too fast and hit Vincent. He stopped, but multiple head injuries didn’t await the ambulance. I will never know but I hope that he will be forgiven for his sins. I hope he will be able to find some peace, somehow, throughout the rest of his life. All I can do is be there for them. All I can do is support them in their grief and hold back the tears and sadness that I feel for them. God bless your beautiful soul, Vincent Carta.

• Field works is slowing down a bit and i aim to learn more about digital photography this winter
  by Dave Sandersfeld

  Redbubble has some mind-blowing examples of using digital images in ways I never imagined. Thank you all for what you all do so very well…

  Redbubble has some mind-blowing examples of using digital images in ways I never imagined. Thank you all for what you all do so very well! Your humble student, Dave Sandersfeld

• Graphic Arts | Mail | 2
  by mimobase

  Hello Gang, This is Mark your moderator of the Graphic Arts group. This week I just would like to point out some interesting things that …

  Hello Gang, This is Mark your moderator of the Graphic Arts group. This week I just would like to point out some interesting things that have popped up in the graphic arts pool. Like this very interesting journal entry, take a look at What do you love most about design? and leave your thoughts. Some interesting work this week in the GA Pool: / AKINOLAUDE by J Velasco – The variation of photos and vectors, with such a vibrant palette really works for me. Buzz .4 by Ben Vernel The interesting type treatment looks like a logo for some crazy future party. and this isn’t favoritism but I think you should also check out Birds on black again by Ben Vernel I just think this is a unique colour scheme and approach. GA | Interview The second of our GA interviews is with a young graphic design student from Melbourne – Ayarti Tell us a little bit about yourself and your artistic background? / I’m a 22 year old Melbournian. I study Communication Design at Swinburne. My third year of study (this year) has been spent working in the design studio “D.I.G Multimedia” as part of Swinburne’s “Industry Placement” program. So basically that involves me working 4 days a week full time in the studio, and studying part time 1 day a week for a year. It has been a fantastic experience. As for artistic background, I have always been into drawing and art in general since I was a kid. My love for graphic art started when I picked up Photoshop 5 back in year 8 and painted fire decals up the side of a car, and I have never really looked back! I studied ‘Visual Communication and Design’ and ‘Multimedia’ in my VCE, spent a year at TAFE doing Applied Design, and now I’m in my third year of uni. What is the inspiration behind your works? / There are a lot of things that influence the work I do, and the way I do it. Each piece tends to be unique in terms of its inspiration and influence. For example, the piece Follow My Ruin basically came about while I was experimenting with a new font that I had downloaded. At the time the media was flooded with news of war, so that some what influenced the direction the experiment took. The title was lifted from a song by “Royksopp” of the same name, and I felt it was quite appropriate. So some of my work is inspired by the world around me, where as other pieces like Splash come to life through experimentation with other artistic medias. This piece came from some ink experiments. What is your personal favourite of all your works on redbubble today and why, and if you will explain a little on how it was created? / I guess if I had to choose one it’d be Numbers 1 or 2 . I’m a sucker for yellow at the moment, I absolutely love using it in design because of its brightness and emotive qualities. The pieces were created as part of a typographic study at uni. I was researching typography whose function is to simply communicate and not necessarily look great, but picks up aesthetic beauty through aging and weathering. One of the areas I looked into was telegraph poles and the yellow metal plates that are nailed to them. I collaged and multiplied a bunch of photos to come up with the pieces, which were designed to be postcards. The process was pretty simple, but I think the effect works well and I love the contrast of the black against the yellow. Which other redbubble artist do you admire? / I’ve only really got to know clothing designers at this stage, as I haven’t spent much time in the art section of the site. I think sjem has some really creative ideas and the ability to pull them off beautifully. I really love illustrative works as well, especially for shirts, so I’ve come to love the work of people like tambatoys and brigid . I wish I could draw like them! If a famous person bought your art from redbubble who would you like it to be and where would you like them to display it? / Music is a big part of my life, so it’d be cool if a famous musician bought my work and wanted to use it for album art, merchandise art, or tour posters or something like that. That’d be sweet. Tell us what are you doing in your free time? / I don’t have a whole lot of free time these days. I guess when I have it I try and spend it with friends. I go to a lot of concerts, I play indoor soccer twice a week, and whenever I have an inspirational spurt I try and add to my redbubble folio. I’ve become very interesting in making things by hand this year, like books and boxes and stuff. I’m really enjoying experimenting with paper folding and binding and printing onto various materials. Visit the Redbubble Portfolio of Ayarti | End Mail

• When will i get another chance
  by Alistair Wilson

  As i sit here doing my 6th assignment for the week I just came to realise that i haven’t got out there and taken any photos for a few wee…

  As i sit here doing my 6th assignment for the week I just came to realise that i haven’t got out there and taken any photos for a few weeks! With all the bloody uni work building up and training hours it’s hard to find some time to get in some photo sessions but the holidays are only 2 months away! Hopefully in the cold of winter i can get up to my holiday house or just get out there and take some more snaps :) Meanwhile I added a few oldies but goodies to my bubble! Enjoy

• Colleges :D
  by LizVengeance

  I just got a thing from MICA / and they want me to go there! :DDD So I’m gonna visit this fall / and I’m gonna visit SCAD does/has an…

  I just got a thing from MICA / and they want me to go there! :DDD So I’m gonna visit this fall / and I’m gonna visit SCAD does/has anyone gone there/goes there and has any info that might help me?

• HELP!!!!!
  by jaycee

  I could really do with some serious advice from anyone who can give some suggestions…. I am an art student, trying to stay in my cou…

  I could really do with some serious advice from anyone who can give some suggestions…. I am an art student, trying to stay in my course, but I pay a high rent for someone that is unemployed, and when I look for other places, they are all the same price or MORE! Anyone got any ideas on how to make some money so I can continue my studies?

• A Yogi's journal - the Student - Teacher relationship
  by Paul Reynolds

  The Teacher Student Relationship Was it my second grade teacher that I accidentally kept calling Mom? / Maybe it was my high school che…

  The Teacher Student Relationship Was it my second grade teacher that I accidentally kept calling Mom? / Maybe it was my high school chemistry teacher that finally explained the subject so I could understand it. It could’ve been my Uncle Norm whose loving badgering challenged me on. Who was that one hatha yoga teacher, on that one ‘epic’ day that I received my first yogic “ah –haaaa” (that peak [or maybe it’s more like a ‘peek’] of that indefinable connection to a source of being that I knew was always present yet I seem to always be searching for.) Check in with your memory for a moment. What picture or memory arises for you when you define the word “teacher” or guru (dispeller of darkness) Since the practice of Hatha Yoga has undeniably resurfaced into Western consciousness, the teacher – student relationship has always been in the forefront and the nexus of much revelation and much concern. Teachers seemingly overstepping the boundaries of “social propriety” or even ‘yogic’ propriety scream in the headlines. Add to this the perception whether outwardly stated or not that because of the connection to a spiritual ‘method or practice’ the hatha teacher can be and sometimes is cast into the role of a direct conduit to the Source. (In this humble author’s opinion this is true, just as it is true that we are all such conduits though it may sometimes take a lifetime, or two or three … [and a few gurus] to really embrace that connection) What are the responsibilities of this person called teacher or ‘guru’ / What makes a “good”/ effective teacher? And as a beginning student of Hatha yoga how do I know, trust, that this teacher is “right” for me? What are the responsibilities of the student as they “seek” and practice with a teacher. Is that age old adage reliable?... “When the student is ready the teacher appears, when the teacher is ready the student appears”? In the Stephen Copes book ‘Yoga and the Quest for True Self’ he comments on the student/teacher relationship; “Relationships to spiritual teachers and communities are subject to the law of parallel process-they are equally characterized by love and hate, wish and fear, hope and dread, self-love and self-punitive guilt.” Teacher and student grow further and further from an understanding of their complicated unconscious motivations. It is only a matter of time until the situation collapses of it’s own weight. The powerful forces of idealization are suddenly transmuted into a bonfire of devaluation, hatred, and rage, usually coming on the heels of some dramatic revelation that the teacher, the hoped for god-man or god-woman, is really all to human…” Relationship is a two way street. There are no victims here. It is the responsibility for this phenomenon of learning to be taken on by both parties whether it is in a hatha class, a public or private school classroom, or even a heart to heart talk between parent and child. What is the responsibility of the student as he or she makes their way through the now convoluted arena of types of yoga and teachers that cover the globe. Do we as students tend to “give over” our bodies, and sometimes ourselves to those ‘teachers’ we feel; ‘have more experience”, come from an age-old “lineage”, have a laundry list of educational references, wrote a book, or talk a good talk? Perhaps psychologically speaking we all have those places in us that are looking for the perfect mom or dad. Are we asking a teacher to ‘fix’ me, heal me, show me the way to a ‘better’ life? This puts an incredible burden on both teacher and student. In practical terms this can translate into a hatha yoga student saying ‘no’ to a teacher that is adjusting him or her into a pose that she (or he) doesn’t feel is appropriate or difficult or painful or isn’t ready for. The hatha yoga student must be able to tell his teacher “not today” “not right now” and the Yoga teacher’s responsibility is to create an atmosphere to where it feels safe to do so. In class situations one can be carried by the energy of everyone ‘seemingly’ getting the request from the one leading the class- but it is always very important that one be aware of ones own needs and abilities before proceeding. While it is true that at times our mind can limit us to what truly can be discovered, eventually however that discovery will be made (circumstances, another teacher, our own perceived progress into the posture) and another “ah- haaa will be experienced. The Buddha advised: / Do not believe in what you have heard; / do not believe in anything because they have been handed down for many generations; / do not believe in anything because it is rumored and spoken of by many; / do not believe merely because the written statement of some old sage is produced; / do not believe in conjectures, do not believe merely in the authority of your teachers and elders. / After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it” Eventually this line of demarcation between student and teacher disappears as an arena of safety is felt by both. Teacher becomes student and student – teacher and perhaps that is the greatest lesson to take from any relationship – and the essence behind that term we often hear in the hatha yogic classroom “Namaste”. When we finally “become” the other we realize no point of departure, no place of separation, we are one. “The true teacher has no students, all is Being and only Silence speaks. The perfect teacher has no teachings because he knows that you are free already. So the true teacher’s non-teaching is that there is no teacher, no student, no teaching, and that nothing has ever existed. This teaching must be without words and must land in your heart. If you try to understand, it will only land in your head.” - Poonja-ji In this author’s travels everything in this experience we call ‘life’ comes forth as a teacher at that time when we are ready to receive the lesson and those lessons continue to be little(or big) hints or revelations or reminders to the questions we all are faced with “Who am I and Why am I here? “…. But the teaching is not ourselves. It is some explanation of ourselves. To study the teaching is to know yourselves. That is why we do not ever attach to the teaching or to the teacher. The moment you meet a teacher you should leave the teacher and you should be independent. You want a teacher so that you can be independent. So you study yourselves. You have the teacher for yourselves, not for the teacher….. Suzuki Roshi “May we realize a peace that depends on …Nothing….” Namaste / Paul Reynolds

• To Art Students And Beginneers my Thanks
  by saseoche

  Thanks to all host of Art Students and Beginners for posting my artwork / “DESIRE” in featured work.Thanks once again to all…......sase…

  Thanks to all host of Art Students and Beginners for posting my artwork / “DESIRE” in featured work.Thanks once again to all…......saseoche