Barriers

What is important to us? About what do we care profoundly? The mask has served us well in digging deeply to uncover and discover our fears, our hopes and our vision for ourselves in the future. What am I hiding behind the mask? What am I hiding from? When do I put on my mask? When and for whom do I take it off? What does my mask represent? In responding to these questions, company members were able to identify and analyze individual behaviors and habits. Our actions and behaviors are motivated by external and internal ideas and perceptions that drive us to do the things we do. When we are conscious of our motivation for acting, we can then think about altering those behaviors we know are counterproductive to our well-being and to the well-being of others.

Company members generated a collective list of things that hold them back and keep them from showing their true selves.

fear
loneliness
silliness
shyness
embarrassment
failure
insecurity
anger
immaturity

They agreed that fear seemed to be the overarching umbrella from which all thoughts, feelings and ideas originated. So we took a closer look at fear. What does it keep us from doing? How does it hold us back? What do we see on the other side of fear? If fear were eliminated, what would be the vision on the other side? Below is a list from our spontaneous brainstorm.

I see . . .

no fear
boldness
belief in self
good habits
sunlight, not the shadow
good listening skills
no distractions
no disappointment
no misunderstanding
no guilt
no remorse
joy
my happy place
courage
no shyness
confidence
no sadness
security
accountability
maturity
honesty
invincibility
understanding

I say . . .

I’m not letting others get on top of my happiness.
I’m taking off the mask.
I will not wear the chains.
Fear can’t find me.
I’m not going to bow down to the mighty.
I’m invincible.
Nobody can take me down.
Fear is weak.
I’m breaking the bars.
I’ll find my way out of the cage.

Our conversations from all that was shared led us to the powerful theme  . . . BARRIERS.

About Mary Ruth McGinn

As a teacher with 32 years of experience, Mary Ruth McGinn has always sought innovative ways to meet the needs of each of her students. She has spent her entire career in schools where a majority of students speak English as a second language and where poverty significantly impacts the learning experiences and opportunities of students and their families. Nineteen years ago she had an experience that changed her life and altered her professional path in a profound way. She attended training sessions at The Metropolitan Opera Guild in New York City, spent nine intense days living the process of creating an original opera and learned how to replicate the experience with her students. She then began creating opera with her students and using the process of creating the opera as a vehicle to teach curriculum and life skills. The authentic purpose for learning coupled with the arts provided the perfect stage on which to construct a love for life-long learning. The profundity of the work, the transformation of the students and a desire to “bring to light” new ideas in education, inspired Mary Ruth to share this way of thinking and learning. In 2006 she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship, sponsored and funded by Teatro Real and Fundación SaludArte in Madrid, and a sabbatical from Montgomery County, to travel to Spain to develop and implement a similar program there. She lived there two years training teachers and working side by side with teachers and students in their classrooms. The reception of the project was overwhelming. Mary Ruth returns to Madrid every summer to train a new team of educators and artists in the process. In the summer of 2018, she joined forces with The Kennedy Center to offer the opera training for teachers in the Washington Metro area. She currently teaches third grade at Stedwick Elementary School in Montgomery Village, Maryland where she is implementing a classroom curriculum based on the principles of authentic learning. Read more of Mary Ruth's blog Learning for Real.

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