Sunday, December 5, 2021
I went to bed somewhat later than usual last night, around 10 pm. Since I read a little, I must have gone to sleep even later. When I woke up, it was still dark. I figured it was somewhere between one and three am. Nope, it was past six. Now, that was a good night's sleep.
Merton started some of Loyola's spiritual practices to become a priest. He described one where you're being attacked by the hounds of hell. Something about that appealed to me; I tried it. Wow! That was calming. I think this is what we all fear, being attacked by hellish creatures. Why did I find this horrific visualization calming? This visualization triggered bodily sensations appropriate for a Vipassana meditation, from what I could figure out. I could feel the hounds jumping on my back and ripping at my flesh. I know it sounds horrible, but it's not. Being attacked by hellish creatures pulling us down into hell reminds us, or me, of being attacked by others. Other than being physically killed, being vilified and rejected by our own, being pulled down by real or imagined inadequacies is one of our worst nightmares. The horrible feelings are in our guts. The sensations created by these hounds were on the surface or a little below. Due to my Vipassana training, these sensations were a piece of cake. Vipassana teaches us to focus on our physical sensations and just observe calmly. This visualization focuses on feelings that must be associated with shame on the surface. They were much easier to deal with than when they're churning around in your insides. They're a piece of cake compared to some of my own thoughts that haunt me.
I had the M & W sisters this morning. I heard their mother in the background as I started working with first grade W. I told her I suspected she was at least on grade level, if not ahead. I also told her that what I had been doing with her girls of late was 'my method.' Despite their extensive Orton Gillingham training, I didn't apply my method initially because my gut said it wasn't the right thing to do. I have no idea why, but it hasn't done any harm. The mom thought what I had started doing was 'my method.' I informed her I had never done what I did with her kids with anyone else. The mother said yes, she thought M was on grade level, in a perfunctory tone, but her reading wasn't consistent. I asked her what she meant. She said there were still words that she read wrong like they and these. I haven't seen that problem. I have her focus on details of letters and sounds as I work with her. She doesn't make those mistakes with me. I told her mom to make a list of missed words and have her form those words in the clay I had her buy.
Fifth grade W chose to continue working on the story. She had trouble sticking to the chosen topic, building a fort in the guest room with her cousins. I had to tell her several times if she wanted to include a particular detail, she had to find a way to tie it into the main topic.
Then I went back over the story she had dictated so far to fill in details. She was stymied. I asked her to draw the actions. She knew what to do and started describing what she had drawn. More than that, she provided an outline, saying there were three stages to building the fort. Before she felt heavy-hearted and burdened as we worked, she felt light and joyful the moment she started sketching. Wow! Usually, when teachers lead students in prewriting activities, it's all verbal. This child has to start with a sketch, a visual image. Now, I do that. I see the movie in my head and describe what I see. She has to learn to connect the visual part of her brain with the verbal. This is an exciting development.
I learned two fascinating pieces of information over the last two days. From Dahaene's Math Sense, I learned that our number system, which we called the Arabic system, was not developed by the Arabs. It was developed by the Asian Indians. The Arabs added something and were the disseminators of the system. The credit for the creation is misplaced. I want to add my voice to correct this error.
The second piece of information was mind-blowing. In the modern world, where we think of the past as behind us and the future as ahead of us, the ancient Greeks thought of the past as in front and the future behind. For the Greeks, the past was something they had seen, could see; therefore, it was in front of them. The future was behind them where they couldn't see it. It snuck up on them. In the Greek vision, man had no control over the future. It would be what it would. With the switch, moving the future from behind, sneaking up on us, to in front, came another switch. This one was in attitude; we started believing we could influence the outcome of future events, control future outcomes. The Greeks considered that attitude as pure hubris. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we humans have certainly had a hand in our own future. Is it possible to have that power and not have hubris? While some of what we've done has been good, there were always negative consequences as well. The Greeks were also a little naïve about their effect on their circumstances. They were already the beneficiaries, or the victims, of agriculture and urban life. Man had long ago taken life into his own hands.
My birthday zoom meeting was scheduled for 3 pm. I signed on, but Damon, the host, was a little late. The Zims and Shivani, and Sidney were on time. Then Jean and John signed on. August, our game master, was still in the shower when we started. At no point did the eighteen-year-old boy look happy to participate. It took a while to get all the computers up and running at the Ross household. We all chatted while we waited for the games to begin. We started with Pictionary. The first one was for four-year-old Sidney. Shivani drew what looked like a dump truck, but I didn't have the correct name. It was an excavator. Next, I tried to draw a bus. I was less than successful. I cued Sidney with a song, "The wheels of the ____go round and round." We did a couple of rounds of Pictionary among the adults while Sidney went off to play with a truck. Shivani was the first to sign off. She had to get Sidney ready for bed. Jean ducked out because she had to take some medication and get into a hot tub to relieve her leg pain, sciatica. John meant to stay on and then just disappeared. The rest of us played the word game. I found the event delightful.
While it had been raining all day, the wind became fierce later in the evening. Around 5:30, the lights went out. I have power walls, but they hadn't been loaded because there had been no sun all day. One of the limits of solar power:s no sun, no power. I had two solar lanterns sitting on my lanai. They are constantly exposed to the sun, so they will always be ready when needed. These are great little lanterns. They're clear plastic tubes with LED lights inside. They have at least three settings. The first gives enough light to find your way around; the second is considerably brighter; I read by it. The third blinks; I suppose to signal an emergency. I gave my sister two or three as a present. She complained that she frequently loses power in her area. When she does, she suspends these lanterns from her dining room chandelier. It illuminates a large living space.
I read a good bit of Brainscapes last night. It was finally getting into a subject I would be interested in, memory and recognition. The author discussed facial recognition. Not my area of interest. But I did get a better idea of where the FFA, fusiform facial area, is in the brain.
When I got into bed, I read more of Merton's Seven Story Mountain. That man found great comfort in religion. I can only wish that everyone finds their great source of peace and comfort wherever that might be.
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