Identity

We've done a bit of self-exploration this semester and I am curious... do you identify yourself as a performer who teaches or as a teacher who performs? Or is it something in between there? Think about the groups of people that you connect most easily with --- where do you think you will land in the professional world? What role do you think you will play professionally? What kinds of socialization processes have you been through that enable you to connect more easily to one group than to another?

The Role of Community

                                                               
                                                            Marc Chagall - The Concert

In thinking in entrepreneurial ways concerning employment after graduation, the role of community becomes important. What do you think about the way Froehlich describes a "community of practice?" How does that differ from how you might identify 'community?' Why is it important that we think about community, how it is defined, and how we perceive ourselves in relation to community?

Passion....

My recent trip to Hungary gave me lots to think about. One of those things was that I realized I've misplaced my passion. What's there is a big void.... I realized this as I watched/listened to a performance in the Hall of the Liszt Academy. A soprano sang an aria from a Bellini opera. She sang it so exquisitely, so expressively, so passionately, that it grabbed me and forced me to interact with it. That's when I realized my own passion had vanished.

I'm usually passionate about many things - mariachi and the way it grabs my heart, interacting with my students, projects that have the potential for huge positive impact... but in my crazy, hectic life in which I feel overwhelmed right now, I am passion-less.

What are you passionate about? I think we use many words trivially, passion being one of them. What is passion? How does it express itself? How do we nurture it? Why do we lose it? How do we get it back?

thoughts?