I just finished the 25^th run of my creativity workshop last night and I woke up late this morning. I didn’t realize how tired I was. Running a workshop like this can get me quite involved with the subject matter including everyone’s issues and blocks and sometimes, I inadvertently let my energy get drained. I have mostly learned the skill of attentive listening without getting “hooked” into the situations my students are in. I don’t really get involved in the sense that their problems become my problems though my own blocks become evident to me as well. My over- riding concern though is to make sure that I have conveyed the tools they will need to help them get unblocked and that I have impressed on them the need to use these regularly until they develop it as a practice. The practice of regularly unblocking their creativity!

Tiredness notwithstanding, I really get a kick running the workshop. The rewards are real. I feel so privileged being instrumental in someone’s “awakening”, so to speak. The “aha” experience is shared again and again both by my students and myself! Every time I run it, I get clarified about my own issues and unblock just a little more. I feel I get as much or maybe even more than I can give.

I have a few weeks rest before my next run this September!

I miss teaching at the Ateneo. I miss preparing for classes, studying concepts to discuss with students in a classroom setting. I miss the student-teacher interactions. Sometimes I feel I could do without checking homework but not really! I miss that too since many times I get a kick when students show brilliance in their papers! Most of all, I miss LEARNING from my students. The saying that goes “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”, can swing both ways!

I am still hoping that despite my APO commitments, I will still be able to do some teaching next sem.

I was able to watch a copy of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 the other night. It was a copy downloaded from the net by a friend. (Michael Moore himself says he does not mind it being downloaded as long as it’s not for commercial purposes. So there!) Please make sure you do not miss this when it hits our theaters by August 5. It is such an eye-opener about George Dubya and the war on Iraq! Ay naku! I can understand now how a docu-film like this can out-gross Star Wars, Rocky and so many other blockbuster films. The reaction in America, if you go by the newspaper and internet accounts is nothing short of phenomenal. People sit around and discuss with strangers, cry and applaud loudly after watching it. And while you’re at it, watch Bowling For Columbine, too. Ganda!!

My daughter, Ala and son, Mio saw the film Imelda last night! They were quite agitated when they got home and were dying to discuss it with me. My daughter’s conclusion–Imelda was so beautiful and captivating and at the same time so crazy! Na-intrigue silang dalawa. They caught the complexity (and the complex) that is Imelda. They could understand the power she had on people and at the same time, the delusional mind that ruled the person.

I will be watching it this week!