Day 126: May 5, 2016 Wider Days

May 5, 2016   Wider Days
Day 126


Today is Thursday, Wider Day. The students will start to arrive soon after 7:30 am. It is now 6:14 am and the minutes and seconds that pass are not wasted. Time matters. Some corrections are still waiting, all papers are printed, and the studio needs a bit more arranging. There is nothing about this early morning arranging, cleaning, preparing or fixing that has ever frustrated me. Sure, there are times when I might not feel completely prepared but never has there been a dread. The Wider Endeavor from start to beginning fills me and continues to do so.

The students bring the energy, even when they walk in emotionally loaded with the effects of their early morning rush. The shift happens within the first half hour and we become one. Energy fills the room as their brains begin to crank, move, and work. Our times of reflection, conversation, and wondering are charged. We feel it and love it.

To encourage a student's curiosity is a gift they will unwrap for a lifetime. Questions are expected, demanded, and lifted to a higher level at Wider. "When your questions leave, there is nothing we can do for you." We know that a curious individual is a seeking individual and a seeking individual is someone who is bent on finding. Our success hinges upon teaching them how to find answers.

Our Wider efforts have blossomed and for this we are grateful. A dip into Wider changes and charges students. To date our students flourish. This is what we promised and this is what we see- a love for learning.

Over the last three years my daughter, Robyn, and I have learned volumes. We walk inspired, changed, and full of anticipation for the future. Not all our learned experiences were positive- whose are? Some even painful but nothing has been wasted. For this we are grateful and our desire is to continue to use all things for the continuation of the Wider Endeavor.

Our vision waxes as we are in the process of developing a Wider team. Robyn and I are most grateful and honored by the students with whom we have journeyed. They are more organized, challenged, inspired, productive, and curious. We look forward to seeing their innovations, creations, and books they will publish. Wider continues to widen and we look forward to the new faces coming next year!