This past spring and early summer, I was rereading a book by Parker J. Palmer called On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old. This book contains a series of essays based on letters Parker wrote to friends of his. He gathered the ideas together into a book that is a wonderful manual for growing older...how to act, how to think about things, how to reflect. It's the second time I read it in less than three years, and couldn't believe how much more meaningful it was to me at 66, compared to 64.
I decided at that time to read Parker Palmer's seminal work: The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life. I had read sections of it many years ago, before I actually started teaching. I figured there would be valuable information for me, and decided that I would use that book as a springboard to a series of Dear Parker letters.
Every day I read a section, and then write a Dear Palmer letter in my journal. I came into the project knowing I'd write a letter every day, applying the information to my teaching life. But I quickly realized I didn't need to post every single thought here -- just ones that stood out to me as being most important in revelation or in future remembrance and application.
This past Sunday I came across such material, and wrote a letter I felt fitting to officially begin the project on this blog. Today I share that in my first Dear Parker letter on the next entry in this stream.
#DearParker
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