I never gave too much thought to Leonardo da Vinci until recently. He was always one of those guys like Plato and Aristotle that I’d hear about in school–how brilliant they were, what a difference they made in the world, etc.–and I always tended to ignore da Vinci. But now, after learning more about the life he lived on a daily basis, and the things he accomplished, I’m fascinated. Here are some things from the book I read about him, that I want to remember, before I give the book back. Some are simply sayings or things he did, and others are activities I want to incorporate myself.

1. Keep random notes about things in a variety of places. Don’t worry so much about keeping everything perfectly organized. If a thought comes, write it down.

2. The brain can learn seven facts per second, every second if used properly.

3. Take more time to draw and sketch certain things. Focus on details and try to recreate them.

4. At some point, make a list of 100 questions I have about myself, the world, or even simple things. Narrow that list down to the 10 most important and see what they reveal.

5. Meditate more often.

6. Ask questions constantly when I don’t understand something. Don’t be so proud that I’m afraid of not knowing a word or a person or an event.

7. Learn from others. Both those who inspire me and those who I wish never to be like. Learn from Anti-Role Models.

8. Awaken and stimulate the five senses with variety. (Taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing.)

9. Constantly work to create environments which foster peace, creativity, and that inspire.

10. Embrace change and ambiguity.

11. Mind map my past. Then do it for my present. Then, finally, for my future goals and ambitions.

12. Never forget that the body, the mind, and the soul are connected. What I eat impacts how I think. Exercise stimulates the heart, but also the mind. If my body and my mind are calm, so too will be my soul.

13. Remember: the environment and the people are connected, and we should care for each other as a result of this.

14. Keep my life balanced.

• Some final quotes:

“Amor vincit omnia.” – Latin Proverb

“Love conquers all.” (This was one of Leonardo’s favorite Latin quotes.)

“The love of anything is the fruit of our knowledge of it, and grows as our knowledge deepens.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“I heard a nice little story the other day,” Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait.

“Okay. The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He’s enjoying the wind and the fresh air, until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore.
‘My god, this is terrible,’ the wave says. ‘Look what’s going to happen to me!’

“Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him, ‘Why do you look so sad?’

“The first wave says, ‘You don’t understand! We’re all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn’t it terrible?’

“The second wave says, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean.’ ”

I smile. Morrie closes his eyes again.

“Part of the ocean,” he says, “part of the ocean.” I watch him breathe, in and out, in and out.

- Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom

“When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.” 

- The Alchemist, by Paulo Coehlo

If you look for beauty, you will find it.  If you look for hatred, you will find it.  Be careful what you look for.

If you hadn’t noticed, the world changes every day. It spins, it rotates, it gets colder, cloudier, dirtier, cleaner, wetter, and even drier. And the people…oh the people get happier, sadder, healthier, and fatter.

So who are you to think that you can’t change it? Who are you to sit on your $100 pair of jeans and think that you have no say in what happens with this place? Well wake up! because we change the world, and we change it daily.  For the better, for the worse.  For the long-term and the short.  Yet we IRREFUTABLY and INCESSANTLY change it!

Then yesterday, as my world was changing, and I was helping to alter it, my students and I were discussing this. So one, very profound young man at just thirteen years old, standing much taller than I, said this…and I will never forget it:

“I set out to change the world, but realized the world was too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. Then I set out to change my country, but realized my country was also too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. Then I tried to change my community, but my community was too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. After that, I tried to change my family, but realized my family was too big and I couldn’t change it by myself. So finally, I set out to change myself and by changing myself I slowly changed my family, my community, my country, and even the world.”

Like I said, the world keeps on changing, and whether you’re willing to admit it or not, you’re changing it too.

“Do not dwell on the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
- Siddhartha (Buddha)

This is one aspect of Buddhism I’ve always admired, yet also struggled with to some extent: The ability to focus completely on the present moment. My mind likes to wander, it likes to reflect on the things I have done, and it definitely likes to dream. It’s easy to live in the moment when you’ve just arrived in a beautiful Italian city like the one in the picture above. And it doesn’t take much effort to live in the moment when you’re with the person that you’re falling in love with and you’re holding each other under the stars. But, it’s terribly difficult to lie in bed at night and not think back through the day’s events. And it’s nearly impossible to stand in the shower and not picture what I’m going to do that day.

But I understand the value of living in the present.

Just imagine having a conversation with a close friend, and you have something important you want to tell her. You start sharing this with her but every minute or so she checks her watch because she’s thinking about somewhere she needs to go, or she keeps looking at her cell phone because she’s expecting a call. Throughout the conversation she has not been living in the present moment. She has been focusing far too much on the future and the present moment has been tainted.

I see this in my students a lot as well. They complain about how boring summer is and can’t wait for the school year to begin. Rather than appreciating the present moment, they dream about, and create illusions about the future. Then, about a month into the school year, they begin dreaming about the next long vacation or thinking back on summer vacation. Instead of absorbing the moment fully, their minds are fragmented. It happens with teachers too; teachers who can’t wait for the weekend or another day off.

Yet it never fails, that the happiest people I know are those who truly do live in the here and now. They don’t let fear about the future overwhelm them and they don’t dwell upon the past and regret decisions they’ve made.

The happiest people I know flow with life no matter what direction it takes them. If they get caught in a traffic jam they slow down and appreciate the music or call a friend, they don’t freak out and let it ruin their day.

What I’ve come to realize is that there’s nothing wrong with having dreams or thinking back on something I’ve done in the past. The danger arises when these things consume me in the present moment. When I was teaching at Jehue my last year, I was not sitting at my desk daydreaming about teaching in Guatemala. My mind and my attention were constantly in the present moment with my present students. And when I’m in Guatemala teaching, my attention will be on my students there.

Only when I am away from my current students and on my own will I take the time to think about my old students and even write to them or talk to them. And, when I’m with my old students my mind will be focused on them.

This type of mental discipline is challenging and it takes time to learn to control your mind. But few things are more worthwhile and valuable than having the ability to focus on the present. It is something I’m constantly reminding myself to do whether I’m eating, reading an e-mail from a former student, or even writing in here. The more I focus on the present moments, the happier I am.

(This entry is dedicated to Lurvin for being the inspiration behind it.)

“El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.”

– Benito Juarez

I wouldn’t consider myself a Christian anymore than I’d consider myself a Muslim or a Buddhist. I believe every religion has positive things o offer, but also things which are negative. I do my best to study and absorb the positive things, while ignoring the negative.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the Bible.

“Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth.”

- 1 John 3:1

“A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

- Luke 12:15

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

- Matthew 5:43-48

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

– Mahatma Gandhi