The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust

March is on the horizon.

As we move into the second half of term, all of us are anticipating March 8th as children and young people return to UK schools. We are preparing for it, we are reassuring staff and parents, we are re-orienting ourselves to this next phase of leading whilst experiencing a gradual reopening up of our lives. 

As we do this, many of the leaders I am working with are sensing the dawn of ‘new beginnings’, and the opportunity for something of great value to emerge from the sacrifices we have all made. 

With this though comes a worry, that in the wonderful, busy and activity packed school day we may, without realising it, default and slip back into our previous ways of thinking and doing.

Today, I invite you to practice a ‘new way of seeing’ that enables a ‘voyage of discovery’ as you welcome staff, children and young people back into the school building. Here’s how Mindfulness can help…

Mindfulness and ‘new ways of seeing’.

Rob Burbea in his book Seeing that Frees says “sooner or later we come to realise that perhaps the most fundamentally important fact about any experience is that it depends on our way of looking”. When I first heard this it stopped me in my tracks. Can I really shape my experience of the world by how I choose to look at it? 

We all know as leaders ‘we create the weather’ in our schools. Our mood is contagious, our words carry weight, our actions are mirrors of our values and core principles. The ‘weather’ we create is therefore in part determined by how we choose to perceive the world, day by day, moment by moment. 

We choose what to see and what not to see. We choose to follow what distracts us or not. We choose to see through the eyes of generosity and kindness or not. We choose, as more children come back into the school building, to see that which ‘gladdens our heart’, or not. We choose to pause and savour the moment – or not.

So… how might we choose a ‘new way of seeing’ as this new world begins to take shape around us? By choosing where to place our attention.

A note on practices. The below practice, if helpful, is for you and your team to prepare for the next few weeks. Self judgment and doubt may arise in the form of thoughts such as “am I doing this right?” or “I am not sure this is for me”. Notice these thoughts and, as best you can, be curious, be kind to yourself and let them go!

The practice of ‘training our attention’

Think of your attention as a torch beam.

You have a choice as to where you place and hold your attention. We can shine it outward: on a colleagues’ face and body language, on the sound of a voice, on a particular child at play, on a paragraph in a document. We can shine it inward; on our mood, our emotions, our thoughts.

Think of this torch beam as having a choice of lenses.

What lens will you choose to ‘illuminate’ your attention today? Here are some that you might explore…

Curiosity; Investigate through enquiry, perhaps asking ‘what’s really going on here?, ‘what am I noticing – and how does it make me feel?’ As children and staff return to school they will be experiencing a ‘spectrum of fragility’ with some ‘newly’ or ‘unusually’ vulnerable. Opening up our senses to ‘what’s different’ means we are more likely to notice this, rather than see what we expect to see from a long standing member of staff or a child well known to us.

Kindness; A focus on the self and others perhaps asking ‘what do I most need right now?’ being aware of inner thoughts of self judgment or judgment of others.

Perspective; Take a step back and ask ‘are there any other ways I could be perceiving this right now?’, ‘What assumptions am I making that might be getting in the way of ‘unbiased attention’?’

Courage; It’s hard to stay with the present moment and be fully open to it - it can be uncomfortable for us. Can we stay with that which is unsettling for longer than might feel comfortable? Try and give yourself the opportunity to ‘be with this long enough to understand it fully’.

Heartfulness; Can I make joyous contact with life on its terms not as I would like it to be? Even in the midst of tough times, can I bring ‘unwarranted optimism’?

During these last few months I have often found myself reminded of the words of British educator Tim Brighouse. He says a courageous leader has;

Unwarranted optimism 
Regards crisis as the norm and as an opportunity for learning and growth
Manages complexity with enjoyment 
Has a bottomless well of curiosity
Has a complete absence of paranoia, self pity, and arrogance
Lets go of the belief that they know best

His words indeed wise and help us to shift the lens we might view the world through. If you have time to go further his full article on successful leaders in successful school is well worth a read.

A poem to leave you with…

Got the time to explore Mindfulness further?

Head to the Resources page of the website for podcasts, articles, videos and past invitations to practice Mindfulness (in case you missed any!)

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Maggie x
maggie@maggiefarrar.co.uk