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This week, I listened back to my conversation with Gardner Campbell about choosing metaphors and changing minds, and I’m already planning to listen again. I revisit a long-beloved book, William Bridges’ The Way of Transition, which Dave and I read together back in grad school (tissues required). I also tried stretching longer than my usual few minutes and was surprised by how much it helped. Finally, I share your go-to gifts for those who teach in higher ed and wonder what habit you’re currently working on forming. |
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Episode 644
Choosing Metaphors and Changing Minds, with Gardner Campbell
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I was honored and edified to have Gardner Campbell return to Teaching in Higher Ed after more than a decade on episode 644. This is one of those conversations that when I listened back to it, I felt like if I did that five more times, I would only be getting started on gleaning even a portion of the wisdom Gardner shared.
How do you get from the thing you know to the thing you don't? Well, you look for ways that things are similar, and you look for the things that are not like what you already know. |
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A long-beloved book
About the hardest things we face in our lives
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When Dave and I were getting our master's degrees, we were dating and would sometimes spend time together while doing school stuff. I was a couple of weeks ahead of him in reading The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moments, by William Bridges.
From the book's description:
William Bridges’ lifelong work has been devoted to a deep understanding of transitions and to helping others through them. When his own wife of thirty-five years died of cancer, however, he was thrown head-first into the kind of painful and confusing abyss he had known before only in theory. An honest account of being in transition, this uncommonly wise and moving book is a richly textured map of the personal, professional, and emotional transformations that grow out of tragedy and crisis. Demonstrating how disillusionment, sorrow, or confusion can blossom into a time of incredible creativity and contentment, Bridges highlights the profound significance and value of endings in our lives. I needed the tissues, early on, as Bridges shares about his wife's death in such a vivid way. A couple weeks later, Dave understood and needed his own box of Kleenex nearby. While the book is sad, it is also nuanced and full of wisdom and hope for our ongoing maturity in recognizing the normalcy of change and transitions in our lives. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand the stages we go through when changes inevitably come. It is relevant in both personal and professional contexts.
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Longer Duration of Stretching
The Bend App continues to help me be a person who stretches
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I've been a fan of the Bend App since discovering it a couple years ago. This weekend, I tried doing longer than my normal 4-5 minutes of stretching and found a disproportional benefit to the additional movement that lasted through a longer portion of the day. I'm now asking myself what it might look like to block off 2-3 times this week for a longer stretch of stretching. |
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About gifts
What's your go-to gift for those who teach in higher education
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Last week, I asked about a gift you recommend for people who are in a teaching role within higher education. |
Marie van Staveren
Really comfortable shoes and the knowledge that vocal training can reduce voice strain. We use our bodies in our work so much, and deserve to treat them well.
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Dr. Susan Bramlett Epps
If only we could gift-wrap some time -for themselves!
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This week, I'm wondering:
What are you currently working on forming into a habit in your life?
Hit reply to let me know. I'll choose a few to include in the next Field Journal. Let me know in your reply if you prefer to remain anonymous, as otherwise, I'll assume it is ok to include your name.
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Quotes About Change
From Bridges' The Way of Transition
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As I revisited The Way of Transition, I pretty much highlighted the entire book. I could past fifty quotes here and probably just be getting started. That said, here's one of many:
It's a paradox: To achieve continuity, we have to be willing to change. Change is, in fact, the only way to protect whatever exists, for without continuous readjustment the present cannot continue. |
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THIS WEEK ON TEACHING IN HIGHER ED
Talia Argondezzi explores satire, creative confidence, and writing about higher education from within it.
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Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast
Listen with us each week.
The Teaching in Higher Ed podcast brings together over 25,000 followers to conversations about the art and science of facilitating learning.
Get your ears on for the conversation. Listen through to the recommendations.
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Bonni Stachowiak
Committed to human flourishing through learning + teaching
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