middle of term

It is that time in the semester where we begin to race to the end. In the next six weeks I will be completing the shooting of interviews for the ethics awards, I will be trying to wrangle my students to make passing grades, tutoring, getting them study help and trying very hard for them to realize the importance of these last few weeks of the semester. And me? As a student I will be designing a class lesson plan that teaches wisdom, writing a paper about someone who is wise and I will be creating the basis for my thesis at UNM.

I am using my Spring Break to write, research, think and in many cases wrestle my printer to try and get it to output what I need. I also am trying to work on my relationship building. In the winter months I tend not to venture out as much. After Christmas there is a lull of gathering...a huddling inside after the winter equinox. The spring equinox is upon us. Suddenly the whole world has the same amount of light and dark, at least for 24 hours. And it is time for me to build again my personal and professional relationships, the ones that get put back into the nooks and crannies during the winter.

As I research material for my class with wisdom, I am revisiting cognitive film theory. Film theory. The thought of it makes me groan...but I realize all this studying of the brain is exactly what cognitive film theory is. Why define emotion? Why understand emotion? Because I now believe our impulses are what drives us towards wisdom or away from it. Synapse is the brain, impulse is the heart.

I have seen wisdom

I have seen wisdom...funny but the word wisdom has appeared in the church newsletter this week, the tumblweeds kids calendar and in an email from a friend who has no idea I am taking a class on wisdom.

Today however I observed it...in a group of teachers, reasoning a problem, coming to a positive conclusion and making changes to acutally effect change. Potentially the situation was ugly, very ugly, it could have been racial, accusatory and ended in severed relations between many people. Instead it was a meeting where people came together, decided what was best for all involved and made plans to move forward. It was my first observation of collective wisdom. (I am sure it has happened before but I didn't know how to see it) And it didn't happen in the siloed, weird, twisty hallways filled with the same company employees, it happened with the combined effort of many different teachers, schools and departments looking for a common goal.

Enjoy the process, but get out of the way

"Enjoy the process, but get out of the way. The budget is not the aesthetic. Never put in your own money. Ok, sometimes it has to be your own money. (Money is overrated) Identify talent and stick to it like glue. Every little picture needs a big picture. In the big picture, we need little pictures. Less money = more control; more money = less control. Find the intersection of an investor's courage and cash. Do what you love; do it consistently. Everything else will follow. Every story behind a movie that gets made is a success story. This is the best job in the world." - Christine Vachon, movie producer, Boys Don't Cry, Far from Heaven, I Shot Andy Warhol.

After watching Waiting for Superman I wanted to cry. Then I was angry. Above is a quote that sums up my filmmaking experience. I have been blessed to meet some of the wisest people while working in the film industry. I have heard people say its a job for dummer people. Sure there are dumb people in any industry, but the successful filmmakers, the ones making those brilliant movies are not only smart storytellers, they are sage like people, revealing another perspective to us.

The reason I was angry, sad, frustrated is because this career I am in now is education. It is a wonderful combination of making films, teaching, guiding and helping people, but ultimately it is about the system. The system is not smart, the system is tyrannical, ignorant and slow to change. It is a quagmire where I fear my own child will get stuck. And that really is the thing. Fear. I don't want to be afraid of the future of education. I want to be part of the solution...so what tools do I have to offer for that change to happen?