change

Transistance

Posted on August 4, 2012May 20, 2013 by stilllearning2b

transistance [tran′zis·təns]

(electronics)

The characteristic that makes possible the control of voltages or currents so as to accomplish gain or switching action in a circuit; examples of transistance occur in transistors, diodes, and saturable reactors.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

transistance [tran′zis·təns]

(psychology)

The characteristic of being resistant to transitions.

Me. Sometimes I feel the need to make up a new word or ascribe a new meaning to an established word in order to say what I want to say. This is one of those cases. Apologies in advance if that offends you.

Anyone involved with education is familiar with the enormous transitions from school to summer and then back again. As a teacher, I am involved with shutting down and then restarting an entire organization every year. It is a transition on a macro scale. Embedded within that transition, each person involved is also facing change. I see it in the rising freshmen in the spring and the incoming sixth graders in the fall. I see it on the faces of the parents as they witness their “babies” growing into maturity. I see it in the teachers as we adapt to new curriculum and new routines. It is an exciting and stressful time for all.

But why is it stressful? The coming of another school year and the aging of children are expected. Normal. So why the anxiety that bleeds into the buzz?

Transistance.

We so easily fall into the trap of thinking that the way things are now is the way they are always going to be. We might plan for tomorrow yet we see it from the perspective of today. That creates a friction between our psyches and the “now” that results in a resistance to change. We know transitions are inevitable yet it is difficult to imagine the biting wind of a winter storm while baking in the summer sun.

The only thing constant is change. Heraclitus

I did not used to be as aware of the affect that transitions had on me. I would find that I didn’t sleep as well or that my mind felt scattered, but I never really dug down into it. I am trying to be more mindful of the transitory periods in my life so that approach them proactively. I make sure to take a little extra time to be quiet: yoga, meditation, or a solo hike or run. I do a better job listening to my body even it that means going to bed before 9:00 p.m. I remind myself that the stress of transition is also temporary and that a new normal will once again be reached. I still experience transistance. We all do. But now I can face it with a smile.

How about you? Have you experienced any transitions lately? Did you have transistance? How do you cope with transitions?

States of Matter

Posted on May 19, 2012 by stilllearning2b

Which state of matter best describes you?

Solids are comprised of tightly packed molecules. They are rigid, holding their own shape. The atoms that make up a solid are stuck, their movement compromised by the proximity of their neighbors. If you are a solid, you are fixed in your life. Your environment does not impact your shape, as you resist influence from your surroundings. If too much resistance is applied, a solid crumbles and fragments, but it takes quite a bit for this to occur. Solids are consistent, yet their stalwart nature can make them vulnerable to fragmentation or erosion.

The particles that form liquids are freer to move, yet they posses cohesive properties that encourage them to remain in proximity to each other. The defining characteristic of a liquid is that it takes the shape of its container. If you are a liquid, you allow the environment to shape you, yet you maintain a a sense of self held in the solidarity of your component parts. You naturally flow, yet can move against the pull of gravity when effort is applied. You are resistant to pressure, yet accepting of influence.

Gasses are the free spirits of the chemical world; their particles enjoy total freedom at the expense of identity. The atoms and molecules in a gas will expand to fill its container as they bounce around with no thought to each other. If you are gas, you push against the constraints of your environment, constantly looking for a way out. The application of pressure simply intensifies this effect. You are free, open to anything, yet may not have a developed sense of self, as your component parts do not blend.

States of matter can be changed. Apply enough heat to a solid and it softens, liquifies. Apply too much perhaps, and you lose your substance as it evaporates. On the other hand, compress freely moving molecules hard enough, and you transition them to a liquid and eventually a solid.

In my own life, I strive to be a liquid. I want to be unified and have a definable self, yet I want to be open to influence. I desire to be able to relax and go with the flow, yet also be able to move against the current at will. The pressures I have faced have forced internal cohesion and the warmth from those around me has kept me soft and pliable. I try to monitor the dials and switches on my internal chemistry set to maintain this optimal balance despite the impact of the environment.

We Are More Malleable Than We Realize

Posted on May 3, 2012May 20, 2013 by stilllearning2b

I was in a gifted pull-out program in middle school. My teacher decided to administer an inventory to determine where each of us fell on a left-brain (analytical, math) / right-brain (creative,language) scale. Someone who was perfectly balanced (do these people exist?) would secure of score of 0. Right-brain folks would be assigned positive numbers, and left-brained, negative. Once we all had our scores, she had us line up along the board in order of our scores, leaving spaces where there were no students with the indicated number. The entire class fit alongside the front of the room, with one boy straddling the door frame of the trailer classroom. I was in the parking lot.

The rest of the class had scores within 10 points of center. I was a 32. A number which screams, “Danger! Danger! This person will not be able to function in adulthood. She will be fully consumed with creative endeavors and will have her head so high in the clouds her feet won’t touch the ground.”

So, as you would expect, I became a math teacher.

Okay, so it wasn’t really that simple. I was born with that extreme right brain and my early childhood nurtured it, as I was encouraged to participate in all sorts of deliciously creative endeavors. Once I entered school, I realized that I would have to change in order to be successful in this new environment (I also had a people-pleaser, perfectionistic streak or I probably would have stayed with the finger paints). I began to adapt. I learned how to exist in a left-brained world. The better I got at it, the more I was drawn to math (after almost failing Algebra II, I might add). It didn’t fully cement until college. The pendulum swung the other way and I fully embraced the world on the other side of that middle school line.

We are more malleable than we ever think we are. We develop mental pictures of ourselves from a very early age, formed by our experiences and our encounters. It is then so easy to live within those confines, to fully buy-in to those early mental constructs. But we don’t have to.

In order to become more malleable, it is first necessary to soften. Just as the thermostat helps the body reach that goal in hot yoga, applying warmth to your life helps to make your brain more malleable. Practice acceptance. Find support. Be still and silence the inner critic. Try to avoid the influence of the cold, as it only serves to make one more brittle. Picture yourself basking in the sun, the heat softening you and allowing you to assume any form you wish, not limited by any prior assumptions.

And, you never know, you just might become a math teacher.