i've been taking the mondo beyondo class for the past 4 weeks and to be honest with you, i'm not a very good student. sometimes i don't "get" our assignments and sometimes i don't even do them.
i do read the assignments everyday, but often, that's as far as i get.
two weeks ago, we were asked to leave behind some of our motivating notes
~that had been given to us~
for others to find. i finally got around to it this past weekend.
of course the logical place for me to leave notes or anything for that matter
is always at "my pond"
so you might be asking "what is mondo beyondo"
well, it's about acting, believing, dreaming, doing, seeing, finding, going, moving, getting, having, letting, protecting, and a whole lot of other "ing" words.
have i learned something. YES. i have.
i don't regret taking the class at all. it's my second online class in the past two years.
but
due to my love of people and that i actually like to be around others, especially when the instructor asks us to move our desks into a circle so we can all see each other, this just might be my last online class. i've gotten tired of being the only student in "the classroom" that takes place in my office every morning.
~if you have time, i have beautiful baby photos over here for you to see~
Great assignment. Love your honesty here. Everyone learns in their own way. Sounds like a good class. I'm taking a class right now. Seems I am the only one in there. I sign in and here crickets!!! This is my third online class. All so different. My ability to follow through has many variables. How the class is laid out, how much interaction, how much help available, how crazy life is being. What the... look at me rambling. Too much coffee. Sorry for the hijack! I'm outta here!
ReplyDeleteI've wanted to take that class, but haven't for the same reason. I need that interaction, feedback, and collaboration. I like your pictures, though.
ReplyDeleteyou are a social butterfly, aren't you? an on-line course would be right up my hermit-crab alley...
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos, as always!! I completely understand what you're saying about the on-line classes. I would really, really have to enjoy what I'm learning about to stay on track with that. I'm not the best self-motivator. I'm gung-ho at first but,if I don't love what I'm doing, I lose interest very quickly. I've always been like that and I've gotten worse as I've gotten older. I love your little notes. The closest I come to that is tucking coupons on the grocery store shelves as a random act of kindness. : )
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
I can understand your need for interaction, beautiful shots though.
ReplyDeleteI'm with texwisgirl...me and my computer screen would be excellent classmates! Love your photos today!
ReplyDeleteThe class sounds quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteIts a balance thing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYou photos are always so nice, with or without assignments. Don't let a course ruin that.
hola bonita idea de los mensajes.. las imágenes hermosas.. abrazos. desde el fin del mundo.
ReplyDeletei can so see you scooching up your desk next to others, making sure everyone has a cup of tea, and then getting on with getting on. i have such a shyness with that, and envy you.
ReplyDeletexoxo
well, personally, i think that bunny rabbit needed the encouragement. (not the heron though, they've got enough gumption already!)
ReplyDeletecan i just say that i love your handwriting? and it goes without saying, but i'll say it anyway - i'm loving these photos... especially the iris enclosed by those lovely grassy stems, and that weathered, beribboned, tree stump.
you're obviously invigorated and inspired by PEOPLE. in the flesh. you probably need to move to that seaside house with the guest cottage and start your own photo workshops. you know, "photos by the sea," or something like that (but you could come up with a MUCH better title.) then you'd have the best of both worlds. workshops AND people. not to mention the beach.
I too am in synch with you. I did an on-line "class" using the book THE ARTIST'S WAY, but the hosts abandoned us during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays last year. Having no feedback was horrific for me. So I faded in doing the challenges till I gave up. :(
ReplyDeleteBeth, your photos are so beautiful. I hope you will find joy in this class. I loved my online workshop...met lots of new friends and had a huge daily community of support. and oh those baby shots....YUMMIE, delicious and precious
ReplyDeleteI took some online classes 8 years ago. It just didn't work for me either. Guess I need more structure. I completely understand where you are coming from...
ReplyDeleteDi
I can't help but imagine the smile the person who will find your notes will have on her/his face. Very interesting words.
ReplyDeleteOnline classes seem to be so lonely. I still have to get the courage to sign up for one and your talking about how lonely you felt in yours, does make me wonder if I will ever get registered for one.
Have an awesome Tuesday :-)
It would have been so much fun to come upon one of your notes during a hike!:)
ReplyDeleteI Have loved my in person classes expressly because of the great people I have met. The online classes that I have enjoyed are actually just workshops with daily prompts and I do enjoy this because it gets me out taking photos nearly every day. I don't count on the critisism part of it though because it is really just a love fest:) No one says anything really critical. I still learn just by doing and seeing what others are doing...
What a wonderful idea to leave these inspirational notes behind for others to find. I wonder the lives that will be impacted by these little treasures.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the notes and the class. I'm with you - I love sitting in a classroom, able to see and hear my teacher and classmates, but online classes are a great alternative when your only free time is between 10 and midnight! I'll check into this one. But what I really want to take is 1. poetry and 2. photography!
ReplyDeleteAn interesting perspective on the online course taking. I too would want to be a part of a group of people and would find it lonely to not have the discussions.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I found a note like what you did, what I would think? hhhhmmmm....
Your notes are just wonderful. On line classes are sometimes hard. But as long as you get just one little thing out of it that changes you for the better...i say it's worth it!
ReplyDeleteI love that the bunnies and the herons got to enjoy your notes right along with us.
ReplyDeletelovely photographs for this First day of Summer...
ReplyDeletealways a pleasure to stop by to visit with you, Beth
sending love,
kary and teddy
xo
I'm taking my first online class right now -- Claudine Hellmuth's composition class. And I love it, but I am so behind on my homework. I'm afraid I'll never get things into the gallery in time for a critique! (One assignment done...)
ReplyDeleteThis is my first online class, and I'm not sure what to expect, but it is awfully fun!
Since my retirement on only a half pension, I can no longer afford to attend all the forensic classes I so love! I miss seeing my colleagues and the stimulation of conversations about our work - even if I am no longer doing the work, it remains so important to me.
ReplyDeleteTo renew my nursing license, I had to do free online courses, one unit at a time, on topics of little interest to me...but the price was right. It's just not the same.
Wish I could get nursing CEU's for blogging classes,etc.
Beth, you have tried! I think that's the great part of it. You gave it a try and you realized it was not for you. You will have not regrets about taking the class one day ... but you could have had some if you wouldn't have taken it (now that's a difficult sentence in English for me, I hope you can understand it ;-) lol). I LOVE the pictures, so tender, so real, so full of life ... thank you! hugs!!
ReplyDeletei suck, too. ;-)
ReplyDeletethe goal of the class may not have been to make some beautiful photos (since there's no -ing to that) but in a round-about way, that right where it took you. so, well done! :o)
ReplyDeleteOmg, don't get me started! I am not an online class person at all! Give me a classroom with interaction any day of the week. I took one online class, and the only wonderful thing about it was I met Charmaine from Australia and we have communicated just about every day since then and we met the first day in. I disliked the forums, the sheer number of participants which made it impossible to have any personal connection. It was like getting lost in a maze of mirrors. That's not how I learn. So I totally get it. I do love your little notes however. I would love to find one while communing with the great outdoors. My fav of the photos in this post. Xo
ReplyDeleteoh how fun to "find" your notes... i feel like a kid on this long summer day! you have the very best hiding places! i wish i could circle around with you... but wouldn't miss the chance to "know" you here, too. thank you for the smiles and inspiration, my friend. -xok.
ReplyDeletewouldn't it be fun to know who finds these winsome notes ...
ReplyDeleteI like your honest post and especially enjoyed seeing your photographs of where you left the inspirational notes. I wonder who will find them?
ReplyDeleteAs for the class, I'm with you there.
soooo agree with not sitting right next to fellow students... to touch... to chat with... to ask 'did you get that?'
ReplyDeletethanks for the lovely visit/comment ~ i'm so grateful that you also hold space for my quirks rather than asking me to let go of them ~ sure wish i could let go of the perfection one!
i'm still trying to figure out blogger ~ thanks for the support in so many ways ♥
What a crazy idea, leaving the notes. I imagine finding one and looking around to see whos looking at me. If a photographers eye changes from one day to another, from good to bad, you were on top of your game with these shots, really amazing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post - you have great insight and a creative mind. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteThat last photo....wow...although I wasnt the one who actually has that little note in my hands...THIS ONE was meant for me.
ReplyDeleteI feel a sense of "aha" in reading this Beth. I took Mondo Beyondo last year. I read all of the posts and yet, I didn't get it. At all. I didn't do the assignments because I wasn't sure what it was I was meant to be "getting" from this. I was supremely disappointed. I came away feeling that perhaps it was just me, but reading your post makes me feel like it wasn't "me"...it just wasn't the right course for me.
ReplyDeleteAs for being the only student..in some ways I think that's good for me because in a RL classroom I'd be talking up a storm and laughing and enjoying the other students and maybe annoying the teacher!!! lol!!!
Love what you did at your pond. I also prefer face to face classes. I am thinking of taking one this fall. Good luck with the other assignments, it does sound like fun.
ReplyDeleteokay, well, thank you for that wonderful nature walk, i'm getting a little tired of laying on the couch. it made me smile that you left your notes for the birds and the bunnies and the turtles to read.
ReplyDeletenot sure i understand the assignment quite, but i like what you did with it. lucky the person who stumbles on these tidbits.
ReplyDeleteseveral years ago (before the 'it gets better' campaign) on one of my darkest days i got off at my stop to find a sticker on the subway wall with these words scrawled: things will get better. it totally turned my day around.
This reminds me of when I find a post-it note stuck to a bathroom wall in a rest stop in the middle of nowhere that said, "I love you." It was a wonderful discovery, the exact opposite of what you find in most public bathrooms. I can easily imagine that finding those notes will be a blessing for someone.
ReplyDelete