Work culture/ making a working context for ourselves

As I read Pete's preface letter, I thought about how different this program is from one at a residential school.  I imagine we all had our reasons for choosing Goddard (and hoping Goddard chose us.)  Mine was twofold; first, the description of the program really spoke to me.  When I read it, I kept smiling, nodding my head, noticing kinship, feeling a strong pull and a connectedness generated by none of the other programs I researched.  Another reason was pragmatic; I really like the work I do now and didn't want to leave it to go to school in a live- there full-time mode.  I think the way I work now is helping me create a structure for going forward in the broad context of personal practice. I don't feel that my life is playing out in separate compartments, but rather more like different scenes on a revolving stage, scenes ultimately all connected in the one play.  

For me, this personal practice is much like what Mary Catherine Bateson wrote about in Composing a Life.  I feel like we are in fact creating our lives, the real composition, of which art-making is a specific expression, but always against the backdrop of our being.  One of my favorite thinkers from earlier in my life is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and a quote of his that has stayed with me for years is this: "The task before us now if we would not perish, is to build the earth."  Building the earth means being the architects of our own lives, as well as paying attention to our connections with our planet and with all the creatures who inhabit it.  What we learn, what we create, and most especially who we are I think is ultimately so we can be part of healing and of making whole.

So, thanks, Pete, for opening that door, and getting me thinking about why Goddard and how I can make the gifts of this time manifest and enduring in my life.  

Good thought to you all; I do miss you.

Susan