Using Aloneness to Create the Vision

Psychologist Nathaniel Branden has said: "Innovators and creators are persons who can do a higher degree than the average accept the condition of aloneness. They are more willing to follow their own vision even when it takes them far from the mainland of the human community. Unexplored spaces do not frighten them--or as much as they frighten those around them. This is one of the secrets of their power. That which we call "genius" has a great deal to do with courage and daring, a great deal to do with nerve. (From Bringing Out the Best in People by Alan Loy McGinnis--p. 162).

A number of words--aloneness, vision, unexplored places, power, genius-- in this quotation caught my attention because they are all necessary if Esperanza Elementary is to become the school we want it to be--a school that has never been in existence (an unexplored place).

Stepping Out From the Crowd

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:The world looks with some awe upon a man who appears unconcernedly indifferent to home, money, comfort, rank, or even power and fame. The world feels not without a certain apprehension, that here is someone outside its jurisdiction; someone before whom its allurements may be spread in vain; someone strangely enfranchised, untamed, untrammelled by convention, moving independent of the ordinary currents of human action. -Winston Churchill, politician and statesman (1874-1965)

I love this quote. If we are to truly make Esperanza all it can be it will be important to follow this wise counsel and advice from Winston Churchill and step out from the crowd.