I’m getting my masters in education right now and it has got me thinking a lot about education, and the kind of educator and learner I want to be. By learner, I’m not talking about those people who stay in school forever (ahemgradstudentforeverahem), but people who aren’t afraid to challenge themselves, truly. Keeping an open mind means choosing not to get too comfortable with the constructed knowledge that you have.  It means being courageous enough to look self-renewal right in the face and say, I’m not afraid of you.  It means growing as an individual.

Personal growth is something that’s so hard to achieve. I know for myself, I get comfortable with the way I relate to people or how I think about an issue and I cling to that because I think we all love to cling to things that define our identity, that we’re comfortable with. After all, it’s worked for me so far. But I want to want more than who I have been. I think as a society, we’re super comfortable thinking that we know what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s easy to start thinking about things in black and white because then we have A PLAN for how we are going to go about our life and we feel like we won’t make a mistake. I like to pretend like I know myself really well when the truth is I’m still discovering who I will be. I want to hope for more than I am today. I hope that I can be courageous enough to know I will make mistakes. A lot of them. And I will embarrass myself. The good news is that I’m growing my mind and I’m going to try to learn how to open my mind. There is a great big world out there with so many different thinking people who, if I let them, can help me grow my mind too.

 I think you can pick out people who are growing as individuals because they don’t take time to fret over what someone else is doing. They don’t gossip because, who really has time for that when you could be trying to get into someone else’s shoes and discover what life looks like from their perspective. Judgement closes us off from others. Duh. It shuts down the part of our brain that asks, What could I learn from this person who has had such a different perspective than me? Why are we so attracted to people exactly like us, when we could grow more from people who are nothing like us? I have to sadly admit, I’ve spent way to much of my time thinking negatively about other people and comparing myself to them and fretting about how I measure up. I wish I could trade all of that time in for time spent making my mind a little clearer and shinier. Negativity towards others doesn’t hurt them nearly as much as it hurts your personal growth. It disables you from being a life-long learner, which is the wellness goal for the day! 

 This is my boyfriend, Matt, doing his homework. He did 5 hours of reading and homework last night, on a Friday night, while I whined about how cabin-crazy-fevered I was. I thought I should give him some props for that kind of dedication (to me and to his biology class) but I want to give him props for something else too. Matt is a great example of a learner with an open mind. Even though he’s had a sketchy relationship with formal education, I can safely say that he has a built-in sense of the importance of learning. I can tease him about believing in conspiracies, but I can’t deny that he courageously questions the world around him and isn’t afraid to face new thoughts, ideas or discoveries he might have. Even about the big things. Even about the way he views other people. Even about the things that everyone holds as universal truths. Last night he started a conversation with me about why scientist and researchers get to come up with the collected body of “valid” scientific knowledge. What makes it so “valid,” he asks. I definitely was caught off guard with his distrust of the scientific community and didn’t quite know how to respond, but then I realized that’s what Matt does. He keeps me on my toes about things. He asks why, which is a very important question to ask.

 So cheers to taking care of your MIND this year! My beloved Jack Johnson asks, What about your mind, does it shine? Or are there things that concern you more than your time? Thanks Jack, you’re so wise. And you were a pro surfer. mmm. This year I hope I spend more time growing and less time getting comfortable.

 Thanks for reading all of my sweets!

Matt- I’m calling you out to make the next wellness post.