![\"\"](\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/chuck-square-150x150.jpg\" "\\"chuck")
For several years, I\u2019d finish classes and head to Ginza to wander the streets. I can honestly say that I\u2019ve never been lost in Ginza\u2013 until this morning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When I first came to Japan, I lived in Tokyo and worked not too far from where I\u2019m sitting now in the Ginza area of Tokyo. For several years, I\u2019d finish classes and head to Ginza to wander the streets. I can honestly say that I\u2019ve never been lost in Ginza\u2013 until this morning.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, I traveled to Tokyo from rural Japan for a conference.\u00a0 As usual when I\u2019m in Tokyo, I booked a hotel in Ginza but this time reserved a room at a new hotel \u2013 a few blocks from where I usually stay. This morning, I woke up there with a lot on my mind and went for a walk. \u00a0I had no destination in mind. All I wanted to do was walk. I confirmed the check out time. 11 AM.\u00a0 I had two hours to wander and off I went.<\/p>\n
As I walked, I thought about a loved one going through a difficult time, about a conversation I\u2019d had in which I was unable to express my ideas clearly or kindly enough. Soon, I was remembering advice my father had once given me that would have been useful yesterday. \u00a0Meanwhile, I was reminding myself to email this person or call that one, thinking about this blog post and where I\u2019d write it, and deciding what order I should do what.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I looked up and saw that it was 10:45 and I was lost.<\/p>\n
I looked around for landmarks, spotted one, and headed in what I was sure was the right direction. It was the right direction, but while I was out construction workers had put scaffolding outside my hotel, making it look like nothing I\u2019d seen before. I passed right by it in a panic.<\/p>\n
I started mentally rehearsing the language I would use to explain why I was late checking out. What form of the verb should I use, and why hadn\u2019t I just checked out before I went for a walk? \u00a0Why had I even booked this hotel? Gosh, Chuck, you\u2019re such an idiot., I told myself. \u00a0\u00a0While having this internal conversation, I walked by the hotel three times before asking a construction worker for directions. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s right in front of you,\u201d he said, \u201cYou\u2019re looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My internal chatter, my increasing panic, and my stored mental image of the hotel entrance had blinded me. I\u2019d gotten lost inside myself.\u00a0 It happens. It happens to all of us, and it happens frequently in the classroom.<\/p>\n
Inside all of us, writes Singer,\u00a0 \u201cthere is a voice talking, and there is you who notices the voice talking and you listening.\u201d Are you the voice, the observer, or the listener? \u00a0Think about this and you\u2019ll realize you<\/em> are the one who listens, not the one who\u2019s talking. You\u2019ll also understand that your inner voice isn\u2019t reality. It\u2019s your mental model of reality<\/em> and when you pay too much attention to it or let it get out of control, it can get you lost and panicky.<\/p>\n In the classroom, this is the voice that can say things like this isn\u2019t working <\/em>and that student is causing problems <\/em>and I should have planned better <\/em>and I\u2019m not very good at \u2026.<\/em> .\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Stop it. \u00a0You\u2019re getting lost. Take a deep breath. Look for landmarks, spot one and head in that direction. Better yet, before you get to class, take some moments to quiet that voice.\u00a0 At the very least, get it to tell you something good.<\/p>\n As always, I\u2019m writing about something I\u2019m trying to get better at myself. Obviously, I fail sometimes and wind up lost and panicky. What\u2019s clear to me is that if I want to see clearly what really is<\/em>, I\u2019m going to have to keep working on this while telling myself this noisy chatter inside me is not me.\u00a0 I am good enough. This IS going to be FUN. Now, will you please be quiet please?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Connect with Chuck and other iTDi Associates, Mentors, and Faculty by joining iTDi Community. Sign Up For A Free iTDi Account<\/a> to create your profile and get immediate access to our social forums and trial lessons from our English For Teachers<\/a> and Teacher Development<\/a> courses.<\/p>\n Will You Please Be Quiet, Please \u00a0 — Chuck Sandy When I first came to Japan, I lived in Tokyo and worked not too far from where I\u2019m sitting now in the Ginza area of Tokyo. For several years, I\u2019d finish classes and head to Ginza to wander the streets. I can honestly say … Continue reading Learning to See – Chuck<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-to-see","category-seeing-singing-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/untethered-soul1.jpeg\" "\\"untethered-soul\\"")
I\u2019m reading a book called The Untethered Soul <\/em>by Michael A. Singer. In this book, Singer writes\u00a0about the voice inside all of us, about how that voice can get us to believe it is who we are and is reality itself. It\u2019s not.\u00a0\u201cWhat voice?\u201d I can hear you asking.\u00a0 \u00a0Say the word \u201chello\u201d silently in your mind. Make your inner voice say \u201chello\u201d several times.\u00a0 Hear that? That voice. \u00a0Make it shout \u201chello\u201d inside yourself. Make it say, \u201cI\u2019m not good at ______.\u201d\u00a0 No, stop. Don\u2019t complete that sentence. Make the voice say, \u201cI\u2019m really good at ______.\u00a0 Complete the sentence in different ways. <\/em>Listen to yourself. Now, think about this.<\/p>\nLike what we do? Become an iTDi Patron<\/a>.
Your support makes a difference.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"