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Sometimes in
order to see the whole picture, we need to take some steps back and look at it
from afar.
Some
students take a gap year in order to decide which road to follow after their
secondary education stage, other people take a sabbatical because they need to
rest, they need a change, or they need to reinvent their careers.
Here’s a
speech by Stefan Sagmeister about the power of time off.
If you were
to take a year off, what would you write on your to-do list? Where would you
go? What would you like to achieve during that time?
Make your soul grow
ReplyDeleteAs most of the people, I´d like to take a sabbatical. But I don´t know any Spanish who has done it. Once I met a Belgium who left his job at the European Commission as a computer expert to ride a bicycle from Brussels to Africa. He had a blog, when nobody got one, where he uploaded the pictures of his adventure. I also met another teacher who used to travel two months every two years around Africa, but just two months.
I´d like to spend, not to waste, a year to run away from routine and stupid tiny problems. I´d mix rest and dreams. I´m sure that I´d go abroad. Maybe working as a teacher in the States, learning another language or other skills and meeting new people. Is it so difficult?
Anyway, I want to write about other things. Have you seen “Inside Llewyn Davis”? Great film. Even though it is not a musical there are lots of wonderful songs that fit perfectly in the plot. I bit of humor in a bitter-sweet story. Do not see the following video if you haven´t seen the movie because, in my opinion, it is not simply a good song but a thrilling scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWJz_-hseJQ
I couldn´t talk about the last topic because I don´t know about it. I was going to write about Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton, because I remember their films as shorts, but they weren´t.
Regarding education (always education) and poetry, you´re going to enjoy this:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2014/apr/11/kurt-vonnegut-letter-students-make-your-soul-grow-new-york
Finally, as summer is coming, I´d like your to advice about English books.
Manolo 5ยบ
Thank you for your comment, Manolo. It has taken me a long time to answer because I have been preparing my personal 'taking distance' trip. I am now teaching in a high school in Indiana, US, where I will spend the whole academic year. School started last week, and I am back to teaching Spanish, which I love, because it makes me learn about my native language and culture. It is great to be able to learn new approaches to teaching, new classroom activities, and to be able to travel around.
ReplyDeleteI will be back with some book recommendations.
I didn't see the scene from 'Inside Llewyn Davis' because I haven't seen the film yet, so I'll just wait.
I loved the link from the guardian, it's amazing how far you can get by breaking your own limits in order to make your soul grow.
"Do art, and do it for the rest of your lives"