MMM*: Their hope is so bright I can almost see it.

My students still don’t know what they will never be. Their hope is so bright I can almost see it. I used to value the truth of whether this student or that one would achieve the desired thing. I don’t value that truth anymore as much as I value their unrest hope. I don’t care that one in two hundred of them will ever become what they feel they must become. I care only that I am able to witness their faith in what’s coming next.

~ Sarah Manguso, Ongoingness: The End of a Diary

Notes: MMM* = Monday Morning Mantra. Photograph: in-constancy. Related Manguso posts: Manguso @ Live & Learn

Comments

on thehomefrontandbeyond says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:26 pm

exactly!

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RoSy says:

March 9, 2015 at 2:45 pm

Ahhh…

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Alan A. Malizia: Contagious Optimism! Co-Author says:

March 9, 2015 at 4:04 pm

I, as a teacher, knew that my students would always see their goals realized; once they understood that it is not the work they do that defines them, but rather it is they who defines the work they do.
-Alan

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- David Kanigan says:
  
  March 9, 2015 at 8:17 pm
  
  Wonderfully stated Alan.
  
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Sandy Sue says:

March 9, 2015 at 6:39 pm

I love this—”faith in what’s coming next.” It gives the journey top priority, not the destination.

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- David Kanigan says:
  
  March 9, 2015 at 8:32 pm
  
  And your thoughts in line with:
  
  Often I believe I’m working toward a result, but always, once I reach the result, I realize all the pleasure was in planning and executing the path to that result. It comforts me that endings are thus formally unappealing to me — that more than beginning or ending, I enjoy continuing.
  
  ~ Sarah Manguso, Ongoingness: The End of a Diary (Graywolf Press. 2015)
  
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Bonnie says:

March 10, 2015 at 3:38 pm

Being one who’s profession is in higher education and being surrounded by students and young adults over the last 23 years..seeing them go from the moment of not knowing, and all along that journey is amazing. I am as equally excited about the ones I am surrounded by today as I am the ones who have ‘grown up’ . This is a gorgeously written way of summing this up!!

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- David Kanigan says:
  
  March 11, 2015 at 4:44 am
  
  You certainly have a driver’s seat perspective on this topic Bonnie. Thanks for sharing.
  
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elizabethbreston says:

March 11, 2015 at 7:07 am

I love this quote so much that I had to return to it this morning … faith in what’s coming next. I look forward to reading Ongoingness: The End of a Diary.

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- David Kanigan says:
  
  March 12, 2015 at 6:22 am
  
  Love it too Elizabeth. And I loved her book. Hope you enjoy it.
  
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  - elizabethbreston says:
    
    March 13, 2015 at 9:36 am
    
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/03/12/before-i-go-a-stanford-neurosurgeons-parting-wisdom-about-life-and-time/?tid=sm_fb
    
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    - David Kanigan says:
      
      March 13, 2015 at 8:22 pm
      
      I was so moved by this Elizabeth. Thank you for sharing. Especially loved the close. Thank you for sharing.
      
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