Following....

And then this morning I met with one of my Tae Kwon Do peers.  She is a younger practitioner, a green belt, and so I led.

The student becomes the teacher.  As I begin the path of leaving my teachers, I can find guides in those that I lead.  They become the ones that tell me who I am, who reflect what I am giving.  This is why it is so important to be reflective about what one teaches and about how that can be perceived in one's students.  It becomes the only guide we have.

I spent a large portion of the afternoon meeting a colleague's students, subbing for her.  One after another, a child and their parent, a different set of energies, of beautiful people working to learn and grow.  What is of value?  How do you teach it so it will last?

It is very exciting to be in this challenging profession.  To be immersed in it from many angles.  There is still a part of me that wishes to be the student, the child, the beginner. There is still a part of me that doesn't want to say goodbye.  It is a very similar feeling to the loss that I felt in Japan, of being far away from those I loved and relied upon, of being at a loss as to who I should follow, learning to trust my own voice.

I remember being a white belt and being praised for getting through sit-ups.  It is a very different place that I'm in now and funny to reflect on such a fast development.  Of course we didn't realize the value of childhood during that time, but some part of me wishes I could have recognized the preciousness of being a white belt just 6 years ago.  At that time, I thought about how quickly I could get to the goal of black belt.  How rarely we value taking things slowly.

I appreciate that this club has such a long process for testing for the black belt.  Six months to think through this transition, to become more fully prepared for this next step forward.