I am here. Here I am. Today is a new day. I listened to a great conversation about success on the OnBeing podcast. Krista Tippett was at Stanford for this conversation with Stanford Education Researcher, Denise Pope and Abraham Verghese, the physician and author of Cutting for Stone. Pope and Verghese “argue that’s because the way we educate for success doesn’t support the creation of full, well-rounded humans. And they see the next generation challenging our cultural view of success by insisting that a deeply satisfying life is one filled with presence, vulnerability, and care for others.”

It made me feel hopeful that education will begin to shift from focus on achievement to focus on the learning process and the quality of life we impose on our young people. It also reminded me that I had once been an education major and that I had wanted to teach junior high kids. Ultimately, I changed my major because my views and desired approach for education would not be supported. It’s such an important job. it would be fun to work with kids, because they have so much to share.

I got to have a great conversation with my daughter this evening. She is a wonderful person. It’s fun to hear what she wants to talk about and how she feels when she wants to share. She is incredibly good-natured and so gracious. Some people might say a young person is wise beyond their years. I get that feeling from my daughter, and she’s also has a sense of wholeness or completeness about her. Even though she’s still developing in many ways, she seems to have such a complete sense of self and understanding that theres’s always more. I feel so so grateful for her. She even said, “I’m glad we got to talk.” Which just made me feel so happy for both of us. I’m extraordinarily lucky.

Completely,

Laura