Reading

“…In marriage, the point is not to achieve a rapid union by tearing down and toppling all boundaries. Rather, in a good marriage, each person appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude and thus shows him the greatest faith he can bestow. The being together of two human beings is an impossibility; where it nonetheless seems to be present it is a limitation, a mutual agreement that robs one or both parts of their fullest freedom and development. Yet once it is recognized that even among the closest people there can remain infinite distances, a wonderful coexistence can develop once they succeed in loving the vastness between them that afford them the possibility of seeing each other in their full gestalt before a vast sky!

For this reason the following has to be the measure for one’s rejection or choice: whether one wishes to stand guard at another person’s solitude and whether one is inclined to position this same person at the gates of one’s own depth of whose existence he learns only through what issues forth from this great darkness, clad in festive garb.”

Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on Life, p. 36

Trans. Ulrich Baer

Came across this while looking for readings for the wedding. Lovely. 

Intense

Just watched this.
It's difficult to say that I "liked" it.
It's a good movie.
But, yeesh, it's heavy.
Good.
But heavy.

They Get It

At the beginning of each semester, I have my students write a reflective essay on a topic related somehow to the course content. I grade these on a simple 10-point scale. I assign the essay for two reasons: to get them thinking about an important course-related topic and to give them immediate feedback on the quality of their writing. Because writing matters.

I just finished scoring the reflective essays for my Advanced Child Development Theory course. They had to write about learning, and specifically, about their experiences with, and thoughts about, learning in college.

I love reading these essays. Part of it is that, due to the rubric I use, they're easy to grade. I just post a score, and they get an explanation through the rubric.

But the main reason I love reading them is that I love being privy to what the students think about their own learning. It's often inspirational and even awe-inspiring.

Here are two sentences from two different students' essays that moved me.

"For me, learning is the key that can open doors that I never knew were locked."

"There is absolutely way too much unknown that needs to be known that I can't wait to know." 

I love learning.

Mmmmmmm...

Love gelato.

Love this Haagen-Dazs commercial for gelato.