A BREAK FROM THE REGULAR ART
And All Life Forms Are Simply Art
It’s A Good Thing You Didn’t Feel Right.
Self-respect is learning to walk away when you realise that someone or something is not for you. Your time is never wasted, because you learn a lot about yourself during the tough times.
Here is a good thing to wonder. Have the leaders been through the tough times? Have the leaders grown through the though times? If they haven’t, you may be God’s choice to be the one to go through and grow through it, which makes you a better leader whether it’s at home or at business.
And how tough has tough been? Listen when they verbalize. Look when they engage. It usually speaks the depths of life that correspond to the magnitude of the business they represent. With the right leaders, they exude the energy that feels natural and transformative, not perfect or questionable.
My latest full time art-teaching experience at a local pre-school had personally left me feeling overwhelmed and putting my well-being at the expense of having to teach a total of 5 levels of kids, from Toddlers, Nursery 1 & 2 to Kindergarten 1 & 2, with an assigned schedule that was almost fully packed with simply classes. I couldn’t believe there were art classes in such a setting for the toddlers, and I was trying my best to babysit them as well. They were cute but the art classes were not.
On top of that, whenever there was a break in the schedule, I would be called to go into the teachers’ classrooms to help cover an absent teacher, or to help with other childcare duties. There were also wall painting works for the public festivals running throughout the year. At the period of time where I was there, there were the painting works to be done for National Day and Racial Harmony Day. To my disbelief, I was also told that I had to design the stage and do up the physical backdrop for a final year graduation show; the stage was a huge one. (The kind that was not just wide but with a great depth for orchestra performances.)
I had to leave the work and the environment because it did not feel right. One time, the principle sat in front of me, looking helpless, gradually shutting her eyes during a conversation, like as though feeling pressured while talking to me, very much signalling that the words that had to come out of her, was not the authentic voice.
I honestly found that the classes and activities that I mentioned above were the joy and challenges, and were an integral part of the work. However, the leadership, the learning framework and how resources were managed and organised were disappointing in some real aspects.
I had communicated my concern regarding the general welfare surrounding the art classes with the head and founder of the school. I briefly laid out the statistics like the number of kids from each level, the design of the daily art class schedule, the real need for at least another co-art teacher or art class assistant to appropriately and safely manage “The Art Aterlier” in a formal schooling environment involving pre-school kids, as well as assisting and engaging them with the process of arts and crafts. (Yes, I have to say that this is what quality schools do. You don’t have to be a super school but you have to stay on the track of good intentions and strategies while it’s small and growing.)
It’s as good as if we don’t have the means to sustain it, the power to fuel the long term vision, we need to take a good look at the mess, learn over and over again to keep it simple, to let it go, or whatever works for the general health of the team you are “leading and taking care of”. We are all guilty of it in one way or another. You just have to learn about yourself each time you feel trapped with a grip too massive and to take small steps to let go of the stresses.
The possibilities of proposing this and that are always accessible, and we all would need the luxury of time, resources and quality minds to come together to create a more sustainable and healthy work environment. Sadly, things are sometimes simply as they are, and we have to accept the current work dynamic as it is and to move on with grace.
I felt very sad having to leave the kids. And yes, everyone would be so fine after awhile.
Nonetheless, it came as an important experience and lesson to reflect on, together with all the previous work choices that I had made, committed myself to and each chapter of those lived experiences.
At least, this was my perspective and I respected my understanding.
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This served as an opportunity to take a break, to think about making more conscious choices and to nourish my soul that was feeling very much vulnerable.
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We all have the power to live beautiful and real chapters of our lives.
It’s going to be challenging at times, but we can learn to choose to be the best version of ourselves in each season of life.
It’s like we can be so good at making the same mistake over and over again, until someday we become so poor at making that same mistake that it gets taken over by an ordinary everyday magic or simply better choices.
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Be Grateful For The Good Times . Be Graceful With The Bad Times
CROISSANT SHOP IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Engage In A New Work and Let That Be Your Reset Button
While I was still teaching, I came across a croissant shop for a few times in the neighbourhood whenever I had to take a particular bus and then one day, I happily ended up in there, simply baking and taking care of the shop with a small team.
I really looked forward to the occasional mornings at 5am or 6am with one or two of my co-workers in a small croissant shop and working hand in hand to get the bakes out.
And it was the joke of almost flying along with the outdoor banner while trying to hold it down from the strong winds.
I also remembered the silliness of telling my co-worker why it did not come across my mind to bring out a chair for a customer squatting against a wall by the outside of the bakery on a rainy day. The outdoor padded chairs were drenched. That would have been a really thoughtful act. Let’s do better the next time.
Tell Authentic Stories
We All Take Time To Get Out Of Our Own Lies
Because Without The First Lies
How Are We Supposed To See The First Truths
When we come up with make-belief stories about ourselves and what we do, we are lowering our standards, welcoming anyone and everyone into our lives, and hoarding onto how much we can get to look “all dressed up” on the outside.
We all want to feel wanted and accepted. Putting in the real work into yourself truly goes a long way.
It takes time and effort to craft out and share appropriately our life stories in a creative and meaningful way. It comes in stages. It goes back and forth. So be gentle with yourself when you feel tired, blocked or needing to engage yourself in other aspects of daily life that are just as natural and essential.
WORKING IN THE COFFEESHOP
Do Your Best, Enjoy Your Work and Be Very Grateful
During my time at the croissant shop, I got to make a bit of coffee using a small home style espresso machine. After a year at the shop, I moved on in search of a coffeeshop where I could regularly learn latte art and coffee-making. After a few attempts, I settled down at a really nice coffeeshop situated within the lobby of an office building.
At the coffeeshop, I worked hand in hand with a manager. We made delicious coffees and other beverages, served pastries and cakes. We also had a small kitchen team who made grain bowls and other hot food. I got to try out a lot of yummy food there, and would make my own meals throughout the day. I truly enjoyed my time there, interacting with the customers and taking care of the shop that came with its own happiness and challenges each and every day.
We had patrons who worked and lived around the coffeeshop, groups who came in because they had meetings and events booked at the office spaces right above us, as well as students who loved to use the coffeeshop for their studies.
Then a few months before I had to leave, the coffeeshop chain was bought over by another company. With this, came the reorganisation of manpower among the chain shops. The manager I worked alongside was relocated. During my last few months, I really got to cherish every bit of my time there with the customers and the new manager whom I found was a really clean, efficient and experienced person. I loved that she was the one taking care of the shop. It just made everything better.
I also took some coffee courses during my time there, did my trainings on the job, and watched some videos that were really inspiring, creative and educational from the great baristas out there.
I really look forward to making more really good drinks in a really good place.
THE ART OF LIVING
Good? Bad? Who Knows? - Ajahn Brahm
I was looking at a shampoo bottle that says “Great hair shouldn’t cost the earth.” At that instance, I thought “Great art shouldn’t cost the earth”.
This affirms my belief that, “Great art is simply being with my natural desires, and honouring all that it takes to fulfil them.”
Firstly, taking small steps to reduce the environmental footprint in an art classroom has done wonders for my life at the moment. It’s as simple as the good energy you get to feel and live in. However, I do embrace making art in a lovely space.
Secondly, I am personally and gradually not drawn to a formal schooling environment which I was initially working toward as an art teacher. I respect the greatness being cultivated everyday in the young humans at school, and I feel fortunate that I get to see that within an established school. However, at the same time, I can see that home schooling is an extraordinary experience that cultivates greatness in your life at large; family, work, community and the world.
As I bring these two types of education to the surface, I embrace both of them with its ingenuity and energy, simply because personally it has been how life has been humbly lived. Life will present us with good inspirations on its journey, as long as we are open to seeing, receiving and growing with them.
Last but not least, as I reflect and recognise the over-consumerism in my own life, I choose to dedicate with care, my time to my personal growth, my professional growth and my loved ones. Everything is interconnected. It’s my life’s work and it begins with me.
Change Happens From Within
Shared Vision and Values At Work
You will be drawn to people and places that share similar vision and values as yours. This is where you come together professionally to craft out the good work. Everyday is a day where we get to learn new and important things which help us to improve on our proficiency and work strategies, as well as appreciating the joy at work.
As You Grow, It Changes From The Inside.
And as it changes from the inside of you, it may feel a little intense at first. However, as you make peace with the growing awareness and perspective, you begin to trust your intuition and intelligence. You take actions to make changes to your outer environment. It’s going to show up in how you live and how you work. Take heart, it’s your journey.
How Do You Want To Sum It Up
You write the summary of your days
Learn a little bit a day. The things that are good for you, for another person, and for the planet.
Unlearn a little bit a day. The things that are not good for you, for another person, and for the planet.
The days add up. You will see the natural goodness a lot of the times when we make the choice.
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Learn a little bit a day. The things that convenient you, but does not consider another person.
Learn a little bit a day. The things that are of immediate good to you, but of immediate harm to another person.
The days add up. It gets harder to learn to be better for yourself, for another person, and for the planet.
And these types of days will flow into our everyday. It will also flow into the days of others.
It will show up in the work that we do. It will show up in the life that we live.
Learn not to be so hard on yourself.
We have all been there.