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If you are a teacher, going to camps and seminars is great, and visiting other dojos. I also found myself understanding Yamada Sensei. He used to watch a lot. When I became a teacher, though on a much lower level obviously, I ended up doing the same thing. How else are you going to know how the students are doing? So I smiled when I read something he wrote on USAF online news about learning by teaching.
However, I also have to give credit to somebody at Sea World among the species who sometimes or more or less get along with humans, though not to the same degree as dogs and horses. (It is said that cats train us, however...)
I saw Shamu at a time when maybe due to spongy mats at the Y, I had a bit of trouble keeping my balance during the leg stretches where you sort of plant one heel and bend the other knee. The Bakers were kind enough to take me to this popular tourist attraction which enables people to understand the power of nature and sometimes the playfulness of other species, who probably enjoy it not just for the food.
There was Shamu, I thought when I got back to the Y, as big as twenty Cadillacs and so graceful. Daian stop worrying about your weight just get into the pool. They had Aquathenics there, which even gray haired people participated in.
Well it worked and was great fun especially for Pisces who are reputed to love water anyway.
In class one day during the leg stretches I said, do like this, only don't fall over like me. Hey, whadd
...More
I was out in the yard, then came inside. Somehow a thought came to me along with that.
Some people have a vision quest, some search for the meaning of life, some follow their bliss... All this can happen along the way but some of us follow our kite. This is just a metaphor because the only kite I ever flew was a small round horseshoe style with a picture of E.T. (for younger who may have missed the movie, or anyone from another country... ET is Extraterrestrial, in this case one who became friends with a little boy)
I was briefly working for a local kite company that made stunt kites, you know, the ones that do tricks in the air. But they had about 14 rainy weekends that spring and they let me and my friends go, that were doing assembly work in our own homes. But kites are fascinating and are part of both traditional and modern cultures, especially Snoopy cartoons. In that case, balloons, too if I remember correctly.
Same principle, if it gets away you try to follow it sometimes even if you could never catch the string at least you can still see it.
This is pretty profound so I'll let y'all see if it sparks some recognition in your own mind of something you have felt, something you have done...
02-07-2012 07:31 AM 
