Libya, Words, and Bieber.

I just realized that I can check to see where people are reading my blog. I have readers in the US, Canada, Japan, France, Ireland, Aruba, Colombia, the United Kingdom, and Libya.

Libya.

Just today, for instance, there were 5 'page views' of my blog in Libya.

It's hard for me to believe that anyone, much less someone living in Northern Africa, would care about my thinking, my travel, and my fitness regimen.

But someone does, apparently.

Because we're no longer anchored to our birthplace like we were not so long ago, where we find ourselves in our lives can be quite surprising. Our futures aren't predictable and our careers change and evolve in ways unheard of twenty years ago.

As it happens, someone with whom I used to work is now living and working in that country and from what I can tell is quite happy to be there.

It's striking that our instantly-connected and interwoven global community is so real and yet so 'virtual'. Just a few years ago my words had exceedingly limited range - if I could convince my students to listen to me and to remember instructions for assignments, I could honestly say I had achieved something.

Now it seems as though my ramblings have found ways to escape the bubble, as it were, and to spread like one of those Tron light-cycles around the planet.

My mother always told me to be careful about what I wrote because it was almost a guarantee that the one person who I didn't want seeing it would almost certainly end up seeing it.

And, I would be sorry.

Now I still have to be careful about how I use my words, but it seems that my ability to reach others has radically changed. Our students are enmeshed in this interconnected world and they think it's normal. Understanding that requires us as teachers and parents to speak their language and use the tools they use so that we can communicate effectively and meaningfully. At the same time, it's our job to teach them how to slow down, look each other in the eye, and listen carefully.

The challenge is to find the balance.

This brings me to Justin Bieber. His song: U Smile is apparently quite popular. But, being over 40, I don't really have much time to spend listening to it, or anything he sings, for that matter. It's only 2 minutes and 40 seconds long, but it seems to last forever.

Ironically, I heard a version of this song slowed by 800 percent. The tones and rhythms remain exactly the same, the only thing altered is the tempo.

It is stunningly beautiful. All 9 minutes and 50 seconds of it.

Don't believe me? Listen to the original version and compare it to the slow version.

If Justin Bieber's music can sound this good just by slowing it down, think how we'd all feel if we could slow things down and appreciate the details that rush by in normal life...