#LoveStories celebrates the good people who make a difference. Tell a story about someone who has made your life a little lighter. Better yet, share that story with them.
Today on #LoveStories, we thank all the students of life, whether in formal studies, in informal studies or at the school of hard knocks. Only in the constant growth and learning for ourselves can we build a better world.
The truth is we can only change ourselves, but in changing ourselves for the better, we create an environment where change is possible. By walking through life being open to self-betterment, we give others the opportunity to see what is possible for themselves and inspire them to evaluate and change themselves.
Tell a story for all the lifelong learners and students of life.
Share your story on our Facebook Group. #sharethelove
The Vase
I hold the vase in my hand now and then, feel the smoothness of it. It feels cool to the touch and yet it warms me every time I see it, hold it. I keep it safely tucked behind glass. I want to keep it safe.
I have learned more from my students than I have taught them. And this vase represents the power of a wonderful teacher student relationship.
A student of mine was a quiet yet polite young man from Japan. He came to class and tried, although sometimes he also fell asleep. No matter how long he studied with me, he never seemed to improve his English skills. I knew that he spoke nothing but Japanese outside of class.
I tried to figure out how to encourage him to do better. After all, his family was spending a lot of money on an education and they really weren’t getting much in return. I didn’t think he wanted to go home with little accomplished.
One day we were talking, and I learned that he was interested in art and had never really had a chance to learn or practice as he came from a family of professionals: doctors, lawyers and engineers. In fact, he was a trained engineer.
I suggested he take some courses at a local community center where he could also drop in and use the pottery wheel and kiln. He did. Magically, his English improved. He had a place outside of the classroom where he very much wanted to communicate with others.
He didn’t fall asleep in class as much. He focused on his lessons. He started chatting with me in English without prompting. Success!
As his student visa came to an end and he was getting ready to return to Japan, he gave me a gift. A vase. He not only shaped it, he also carved in an image of me and my daughter, telling me he knew how important people are to me, especially family.
He told me he loved his family but that they didn’t know his true dream was to be an artist. He was afraid to tell them. He didn’t want to disappoint them. Everyone else was a professional. They had spent a lot of money on his education. How could he tell them it as all in vain? No one else in his family was an artist.
I didn’t have much advice for him other than he knew his family best, and that he had to live with himself for the rest of his life.
He went home and told his parents about his dreams. They supported him and he started down a new path in life.
The vase he gave me will always sit in my living room, a testament to this amazing young man who found his truth in a foreign country and took it home with him.
Tell Better Stories
Would you like to tell better stories? Or maybe you would like a safe place to share your story?
Join me at an online story workshop or one of my story coaching circles.