Week 3 - Free Choice - Blurry

Self-Portrait by Diane Frymire ©2010

"She had the kind of radical confidence about her own highly personal expression that people acquire when they understand that performance is not about getting your act together, but about opening up to the energy of the audience and of the music, and letting it sing in your unique voice."
The Art of Possibility, Zander, (2005)

During my time at Full Sail, I have been learning about my 'own highly personal expression'. Before entering this program, I thought I had to have my 'act together'. Since I knew that so much of my act was blurry, I was rather stuck in the hamster-wheel made up of the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Need. Survival was my major goal.

When life is out-of -focus, its easy to run into things and get bruised. When that blurriness is embraced, a whole new kaleidoscope of experience and thinking is opened.  When my students' lives are blurry, I can identify and help them see they are not alone.  Many people are confused.

Through media and technology, I have been given an opportunity to shine in new ways. I have found a way to express the pain of my mother's Alzheimer's and my father's untimely death. I have found a place where there is an audience whose energy makes my unique voice worth expressing...even if I still feel blurry.

Week 2 Reading - Making other People Powerful

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"The contributions game has remarkable powers for transforming conflicts into rewarding experiences."
Art of Possibility, by R. Zander, p. 59

Presence of mind rather than overwhelm with emotion allows more positive interaction. This presence is more transforming when both are seen as contributors to good in the world instead of arbiters of evil. A very destructive viewpoint is a double-edged sword. On one side, a person can throw out negativity that can cut another's psyche, while on the other side, the receiver's interpretation increases the damage on the return slice. The contributions game that Zander endorses dulls that return blade.

Many people, including, or especially including, students, are prone to receive information in different ways based on previous experience. Zander's way of opening his students' eyes to how they positively contribute to the world and people around them creates an inner sense of worth in them. This can be likened to filling up one's cup with delicious things so that when someone tries to pour something bitter into the mix, the sweetness already there can actually transform that tartness into something tasty.

"...his true power derives from his ability to make other people powerful."
Art of Possibility, by R. Zander, p. 68

What better goal should there be for a teacher!?! Pride wants to put-down others, while true humility is powerful and has the ability to empower others. Zander has hit on the true meaning of leadership. A leader is one who sees greatness in others, learns from it, nurtures it, and never feels that her/his knowledge is so untouchable that s/he cannot grow from even the smallest person's contribution.
As a teacher, this should mean that student opinions, thoughts and ideas should be treated with value and respect. Collaboration in its deepest sense is mutual contributions where wisdom guides but does not overpower.

"Who am I being that they are not shining?"
Art of Possibility, by R. Zander, p. 74

Without unnecessary self-deprecation, this should be a question teachers continually ask when students are not responding positively. A sober, positive assessment of pedagogical practices, as well as personal foibles, may reveal new ways to reach students that otherwise may have been considered difficult. Although this may take some extra energy to pursue, the benefits are often more long-term when others know that educators are paying attention to students' real needs.

That's Rule 6 isn't it?

Week 1 Readings - Draw a Different Frame

As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken. Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities, which may seem a freedom or a confusion.
Jasper Johns


Freedom or confusion? Grade A+ or less? How much of our lives are ruled by negativity rather than possibility? What frame have we painted around the picture that shows our lives? What happens when the frame is changed?


The frame of a building is the first step after the foundation is laid. The frame is scaffolding upon which the rest of the construction is built. If it is faulty, weak, or neglected, the results can be disastrous. Recently, The Associated Press reported that a scaffolding collapsed and injured five workers at a college in Vestal, New York. 

The architecture of any structure should be A+. This seems like a simple, logical conclusion for any sort of edifice. However, in reading 'The Art of Possibility', the tendency of people to downgrade the backbone of their internal dwelling became very clear. Destruction results. The expectation for an inanimate home or office is often higher than the hopes for the human heart and spirit.


Assuming the best of others is extremely powerful and an art that should be cultivated carefully and deliberately. The frame should be redrawn with the highest quality of materials: sharing, positive words, encouragement, high hopes, and an emphasis on what is achieved rather than what is lost.


A negative attitude based on "scarcity-thinking" creates hoarding, competition, closed-mindedness, and selfishness. This weakens the frame within, and damages the infrastructure of other relationships.