Sculpting
You’ve no doubt heard the Michelangelo story where he explains that the statue of an angel was always inside the stone and he just set it free? (Is this story apocryphal?) Anyway, I heard it again today with a new twist 1. New for me anyway, and told by a teacher who used the metaphor of freeing the sculpture from stone to describe releasing the potential of his students. I’m paraphrasing here: “what if we see all students’ potential as being equally beautiful but residing inside the stone and it is the teacher’s role to chip away at all the waste material to unlock their abilities?” I apologise to all the teachers out there to whom this metaphor may be entirely outdated or old hat. Like I said, it was new to me.
The metaphor is definitely how I see parenting. How can I use my actions and words around the kids so that the waste rock can fall away and the daily detritus that falls all around them doesn’t stick. How can I help craft things so they can become the best people they can be.
An extra twist comes when you think about how this could apply in the workplace. Instead of seeing colleagues, bosses and work mates as the agents of my difficulties and failures 2; can I see myself more as an agent helping to remove the rubble so people can perform at their best. Not a new idea about how I see the world, but a new metaphor that helps reinforce the reasons and beliefs behind the things I do.
Notes:
- Currently listening to the audio book: The Art of Possibility ↩
- Thanks to my own attribution bias, I rarely see others as an agent of my success 😉 ↩
I’m a dad to the awesome Harry and Cara, a widower, and a learner; slowly attempting a fools errand to make sense of the world, and writing about the thoughts and ideas that pop into my head along the way.
I’d never heard that before. I LOVE it. It made my cry it’s so beautiful. X
Thanks Gillian. Happy that it resonated with you 🙂
The concept fits nicely into my view on the role of a counsellor. “I see that people have, within themselves, the capacities and potential to deal with issues before them.
It is the role of a counsellor to help people discover and effectively utilise those capacities and insights to meet and deal with their issues.”
I also like the concept for its idea that we all have untapped potential, that can be unlocked when we become highly motivated. Such motivation can come when others have believe in us and we believe in ourselves. I rave on, but as you can see I like the concept.