The Mourners at the Met

Mourner-with-drawn-hood-reading-a-bookI needed to take a break from my paper (with its final version due this Monday), so I decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art,  my favorite museum that happens to be right here in New York.

What a surprise when I stumbled across one of the best (small) exhibits I have ever encountered, The Mourners: Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy. This exhibit is the first time these sculptures have been separated from the tomb in Burgundy they have been mourning for hundreds of years. Arranged in 2 rows, they walk and mourn in silence, doing what people have done for thousands of years–remember those who have come before. They are carved in amazing detail, only 16 inches tall, and arranged in the Medieval sculpture hall in a solemn and thought-provoking manner that stopped me in my tracks.

I love Medieval art. I love France. What a find to invite me to be as introspective as these fellows are.

In our own ways, and in mine in particular, I find myself reflecting on my past, much as these statues do. I constantly replay images from the past, thinking, from different perspectives, about how to live the present and prepare for a better future while being informed by what has gone on before. It is not that often that I get overwhelmed with an entire art display, though this one, as if walking toward the doorway through which I entered, greeted me as if personally and solemnly.

Do I mourn? Will others mourn me? I wonder to what extent anything of mine will even be remembered after I finish my journey?

While this can immediately be seen as a lament, I will instead take this as an invitation to make the remainder of my life memorable. I want to leave the world a better place, be part of something greater than myself.

What better response to have to works of art, than to want to take positive action?

What do you want people to remember about you?

Switch: Follow-up to Made to Stick

I just ordered my copy of Switch, the new book by Chip and Dan Heath (best-selling authors of Made to Stick). I thought the brothers’ earlier work was wonderful, and am looking forward to reading their follow-up work.

Not sure when I will have time to read it; perhaps need to find (or create?) an online book discussion for this???

switch

3 Visits to the Art Institute of Chicago

Between attending the sessions at last week’s Adult Education Research Conference and presenting my paper The Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ): From Research to Practice and Back Again, I was also able to visit the Art Institute of Chicago (3 times!).

The new Modern Wing is amazing, and the entire collection somehow seems infused with life, vitality, and reflection (the final being my need to spend time with art when I am especially filled with stress and work). I find art a spiritual encounter that often initiates reflective practice on many levels. I enjoyed my visits so much I even joined as a member!

I uploaded my pictures from the museum to Flickr.

Books that Shape a President

If we need any more inspiration for following in the footsteps of President Obama, we have no further to look than the books he reads. Educators of many stripes have long believed that there is power in reading–we explore new worlds, new paradigms, new situations, and new challenges and solutions to past / present / future problems and issues. What better way to do this than a new read for the New Year?

The NY Times recently had a story that listed some of the books that informed the President. Taking a queue from there, I went to one of the local independent bookstores, Three Lives and Company, and picked up one of the texts I have not yet read, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.

Song of Solomon
Imagine the possibilities if we all read more texts of substance?