By Shae Hadden | Bio
What
we do with our time seems to be an ongoing topic of interest for many.
Popular belief says we need to balance time for 'work' and 'life'.
Innumerable authors and experts have invented tools and techniques for
us to 'manage' our time. Common sense says that procrastination occurs
when we 'waste' time doing nothing or doing things other than what we
say we're going to do. More experts have written about how we can get
motivated, stop procrastinating and get down to business. Then why is
it that many still struggle with trying to stay focused on what they
really want to do? [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
discipline
focus
procrastination
time
will
 By Shae Hadden | Bio
Someone was
telling me recently that some of Buddhist temples in Japan are guarded
by two fierce-looking demon-like figures. These guardians of ‘Truth’
are known as ‘Paradox’ and ‘Confusion’. These days, paradox and
confusion seem to be states I alternate between in my quest to discover
who I am and what future I want to create. If I’m not confused, then
I’m trying to embrace something that defies intuition. My ‘truth’ seems
elusive.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
confusion
eldering
future
paradox
possibilities
By Shae Hadden | Bio
The
green-crested hummingbird is at my window again this morning, hovering
in mid-air sunshine and snatching bits of food from the plants as they
begin to bud. He appeared in my life a few weeks ago, and has been
coming back every day without fail. Today his weightlessness seems like
a metaphor for a new way of Being.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
By Shae Hadden | Bio
The other day a friend mentioned a term I'd never heard before: neuroplasticity.
So I looked it up on Wikipedia (yes, click on the link and you can go
there too) and was amazed to find out that scientists are now proving
that our thinking can actually change our brain anatomy. Neuroplasticity challenges the conventional wisdom that specific brain functions, such as speech and vision, are located in a
specific cortex (or center). The
traditional medical paradigm focused on the lower brain and
neocortical areas as being unchanging after development, limiting
our capacity for language development among other things. But this
point of view didn't explain
why some people could expand their learning capabilities and have one
area of the brain assume a specific function that 'belonged' to another
area (whether there was an injury or not).
[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
aging
learning
neuroplasticity
thinking
By Shae Hadden | Bio
Every day this
past week, I’ve been exploring the question of “What can I do?” It’s
been an interesting inquiry, with the answers varying each day,
sometimes each hour, based on the state of my physical body. I’ve
found myself experiencing embarrassment at having to ask for car
service at the grocery store, frustration at not being able to
multi-task my way through my ‘usual’ amount of work, and vulnerability
at having trouble carrying a 10-pound bag from my car to the house. But
I’ve also experienced joy at regaining some flexibility, having
pain-free moments and walking in silent contemplation around my
neighborhood. Best of all, I’m learning other ways of relating to
myself, my circumstances and time.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
circumstances
pace
patience
push
time
By Shae Hadden | Bio
It might be said that existence isn’t possible without both pleasant
and unpleasant experiences—without pain and pleasure. They are like a
guidance system, helping us navigate through life and orienting us away
from illness and danger and death. I’ve been relating to the physical pain I’m experiencing since my car accident as a source of learning.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
choice
joy
pain
suffering
By Shae Hadden | Bio
This New Year’s
Eve was a refreshing break from the past for me: a friend and I went to
a local hall to listen to a concert of Buddhist chants and instrumental
music while we walked the indoor labyrinth. The hall was crowded,
filled with adults seriously intent on purposeful walking. Two little
girls were dancing and skipping the labyrinth together—one following
the other. Whenever they encountered an obstacle (that is, an adult
moving slowly), they would weave around whoever was in their path.
While all the adults were focused on meditating or intensely
concentrating on their ‘experience’, these two girls were laughing and
smiling, joyously taking whatever life placed in front of them at their
pace, slip-sliding in their socks all the way to the centre and back
out again. What struck me was not only that all the adults
looked as if they carried the weight of the world on their shoulders,
but that they took three times as long to do one circuit.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
joy
martyrdom
play
significant
superhero
By Shae Hadden | Bio
One of my New Year traditions is to clean up
some of the papers that have accumulated around me over the past year.
Yesterday, I came across these “Facts of Life” that someone had given
me and thought they were worth sharing. Unlike the ‘facts of life’ we
normally think about (like ‘the birds and the bees’, death and taxes),
these seem fitting for the beginning of a new year, especially since
they actually challenge us to look at ourselves and others in a whole
new way.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
assessment
learning
life
truth
By Shae Hadden | Bio
There’s a place near Fort McLeod in Alberta that goes by this odd name…the Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump world heritage site
…where the indigenous peoples used to lead the buffalo to jump off a
cliff. A place where there’s a very finite line between life and
death…and where life comes from death. You see, for thousands of years,
the native people would use this natural geographical formation to
‘harvest’ these wild animals and feed their tribes each winter. I’m remembering this place today because I’ve been reminded—not so
subtly by being in a car accident—that life is the dash between birth
and death.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
control
death
gratitude
joy
life
surrender
By Shae HaddenBio
My sister reminded me last night that it’s gardening season. “The next
three weeks are for planting,” she said. And that was it. For her, the
next three weeks of her work life will be determined by her definition
of this part of the growing season. Purchasing young seedlings,
transplanting older plants, making last minute preparations of the
garden beds, placing vital nutrients around plant roots. Working the
soil and planting things.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Learning
Tagged with:
choice
compassion
gardening
growth
surrender
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