YEAR OF ZEN: AUTUMN: DAY 40

The Bard - Thomas Jones

Q: Nobody is essentially better, or worse, than you. How do you stay aware of this reality and feelings of being less than?

A: I know this feeling all too well as I experienced it frequently in academia, particularly in my Environmental Humanities graduate program. And it is something I still struggle with as I periodically encounter some of the teachers and/or peers from that period of my life and revert to that feeling of being a “less than” student. I will say that I think that this awareness has informed me in terms of hopefully making me a better teacher and mentor when I have the opportunity to serve in that role.