After work yesterday, went to Freedom Park and ended up reading, journaling, doing Tai Chi, and recording a couple more podcast episodes. On the way there, listened to Jaspreet's link that he sent out of him being a guest on an aviation podcast to promote his book. 20% of the profits going to Rainbow Railroad is a very generous amount so I commend him for doing that.
I finished up The Leadership Dojo. Again, very insightful, applicable, practical for anyone of any age. I think some of these practices I want to learn more about and somehow implement into SpiritEd Dojo. In my list journal, I could potentially see adding an Imprints section, taken from the Diamond Cutter and a body shape section to make the connection between how we somatically shape ourselves and how we perceive the world, how our mood changes, how our productivity and outlook are modified, etc. Fundamentally, this makes so much sense but it's not something I've necessarily brought my awareness to on a consistent basis. Hopefully, it is for life going forward.
One example I thought of while reading is that if I'm reading with the book held down so that my vision is only on the book and nothing else, sort of like tunnel vision with the book, am I losing perspective and practice of it? Should I be holding the book up high so I can physically practice the act of putting the practices of this book in perspective of my life? That whatever I read is not living in a silo but is relevant and implementable to my daily life.
Another idea that came into my head while reading the book was that many parents+ say that this generation of kids is the most insert adjective here ever. Whether it's soft, spoiled, least conversational, least social, depressed, tech-addicted, etc. Sure, that could potentially be true. But no one asks the question, "Who parented this generation?" They can name society, technology, friends, etc. all they want, but parents have the biggest role to play in a child's development to be a whole human being. Can the parents take responsibility for how the child grown and what type of person they are? Can the parents feel proud for the successes of the children but also the failures? Is it a double standard? Do they take responsibility for how they manage the influences of society, technology and others with their child? And not be a victim of those factors. A cool and useful principle in Aikido is that of blending. Blending your energy with the other person, object, or whatever else. And using that to your advantage, but also in a way that is not injurious to the other person. Being harmonious with it. Can parents accept that these different factors exist in our world and will continue to? And instead of pushing them away, blend with the full capabilities of using technology effectively, modeling ideal behavior when interacting with society, approaching individuals with respect and compassion in all situations so that the next generation is not even more so the most spoiled, soft, anti-social, tech-addicted generation ever? That is the question.
The other part of this is that parenting is unconsciously approached from a test perspective. We have been trained to cram for tests for the past few generations and that's only increasing. Procrastinating, putting things off til the last minute, not planning properly. Obviously, educational system is largely the cause here. They way that reflects in parenting is that soon-to-be parents think they can learn tips and tricks, techniques, insights into being good parents a few months before they're actually parents. Reading up on parenting books, taking courses, etc. They can be filled with knowledge. But I think those things could be unnecessary. They're seeking how to be good parents over the course of a few weeks or months. When the answer they're looking for on how to be good parents has been right in front of them the whole time. They just need to be the person they want their child to be. Taking all the courses, reading all these books inherently means they're looking for ways to be good / better parents. LOL why? You should be 'training' and 'practicing' being good parents through every day of your life! There is no crash course that can fix you. Being a parent means being a leader. But how can you lead others (your children) when you can't even lead your own life?
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