We all teach, whether we have heard the call or simply discover ourselves to be teaching. We are schoolteachers, mentors, coaches, parents, managers, co-workers, and therapists. More subtly, we are friends, lovers, children, secretaries, baristas. We all teach.
In each moment that we teach, we are teaching more than our subject. Humans are subtle listeners and observers, and when we teach, our students understand more than we show. We cannot help but teach our inner most beliefs, passions, selves. We cannot but help teach what we find most profound.
Whatever we call this profound and deep spark within — spirit, truth, belief, passion — it underlies all we say and do, and it matters very much.
Excellence in teaching requires that we seek to understand this in ourselves, that we see the best and worst parts of ourselves, that we travel through our deepest fears and our greatest hopes. Excellence demands that we learn to see clearly as we walk this path of self-inquiry and discovery.
My own excellence demands that I write about what I see on this path. This body of work is my practice.
