On the train to EduCon, I sat in the quiet car. I relished this idea of quiet time before what I was pretty sure was going to be kind of an overwhelming experience for me. Of course, the quiet car is still a connected car and somewhere on the trip I saw the @remixeducon request for media. I decided to capture some stop motion scenes from the train. Since I now had this interesting material and time on my hands, I made a movie. That movie had to have a sound track and that sound is Hayling from FC Kahuna. What you don’t get to hear in my brief montage are the lyrics, which are simply this -
don’t think about all those things you fear,
just be glad to be here
So on my quiet trip up to Philly, while trying to attain some sort of state of zen, there it was again - fear. I knew it was lurking, but I guess I was hoping it wouldn’t become conscious thought. It was there when I thought about all the new people I would be meeting, the session I was co-facilitating and other unknowns I would be facing. It was also there passing by my window in the broken, trashed and abandoned structures, reflecting a world that is just not quite right.
I am so glad that fear was acknowledged at this conference in many ways, but especially at the panel discussion on Sunday. I know we can’t dwell there, but I take comfort in a community that recognizes fear is part of life’s journey. I was glad to be in Philly, where I made deeper connections with some amazing people from my hometown of Charlottesville. I was glad to mingle in reality with some of my twitter crushes and have this shared experience with a few #etmooc cohorts. I was glad to be an active participant at EduCon, where people and ideas were respected while also being challenged. Ultimately, that is where the fear should take us - to meet the challenge and to make the change.
there’s a light on the hill, that’s far out in the distance
and it calls out my name, it calls out for a change
far away voices, that want their own choices,
sigh for plea, as it calls out for change
~ Change by Fishbone