When I first started taking classes with Tom Brown, Jr. and his instructors, I was a little starstruck, and new to many of the skills being taught and shared. I hadn't done enough of my own learning and struggling to know what to ask, so I mostly I just kept quiet, took a lot of notes and tried to work hard...
As I practiced, I began to find questions. I would hit little walls, get stuck, whatever, and I saved them to ask Tom or Frank Sherwood, or John Stokes when I next saw them at a class. (Yeah, this was way before e-mail- and yes, I am that old!)
It was then that having access to the experience, wisdom and help had intense value. It helped me grow much faster, and each conversation fostered relationships that exist to this day. In general, people who have taken a skill to a high level enjoy students who are heading in the same direciton. While it isn't exactly a peer relationship, there is a growing respect for the effort and time that each person has put in. It is something that happens in business, in science, in sports and in our field of wilderness education.
This is why the course costs more than the cost to write and print and mail the program. It is the mentoring you are actually supporting, and this mentoring is available to you for life. Well, for my life, basically! And it isn't a light gesture. It is a key ingredient in helping you grow, if you choose to use it.
The ten blocks of the Earth Skills Course are intense. They cover a tremendous amount of experience, reading, journaling and effort to complete, and the mentoring to help you through it is there for you. And you don't have to wait for months to get answers to your questions!
When you have your own students someday, know that they will value your time and effort and relationship as well, and the circle will be complete!
Posts
2 comments:
Hey Ricardo,
I wanted to share a 'cool story' - and thought this would be the place to put it... my wife and I just bought a fire pit for our backyard - something to enjoy on a cool New York night... so the other night she suggests that we build a small fire. My wife asks to see me use the bow drill (something I've been working on)... my son is running around as I'm getting started (he's three years old) - but he becomes interested in what I'm doing and wants to help. So I have him hold the hand-hold with me - while his foot rests on the edge of the fireboard... it took a few tries for me to get a coal - it was difficult to watch my son who wants to put his hand on the spindle or grab the bow itself as it starts going faster... so I'm watching him and trying to keep an eye on what I'm doing too... but we got a coal!
The best part, of course, was being able to share this moment with him.
Thanks!
My Best, Ew
Hey!
Thanks for posting this story. It is just one more example of how we can integrate these skills into our families and our daily lives, where we can share the joy that they bring to our lives.
Also, your story illustrates mentoring as role modeling, rather than teaching, because you are making a fire as part of your everyday life, which is the highest form of mentoring....
Role modeling is something that others see and take in fully, rather than just intellectually, when we are teaching and talking.
Anyway, I can talk a lot further about this in a later post, but I really appreciate your taking the time to share this with everyone.
Take care!
Ricardo
Post a Comment