I recently inadvertently acquired a student interested in learning about spiritual practices and spiritual healing from me. I’ve been studying dozens of paths of spiritual and emotional healing and connecting with my soul for dozens of years, and I have led a few workshops now and then. And suddenly I have a student; someone is asking me questions and taking my advice. So, it occurred to me, if you are the kind of person who likes giving advice and sharing your knowledge – maybe stop offering it to your friends who may or may not be interested, and maybe stop being frustrated that you have all this great knowledge that no one seems to want even when you know it could help – and maybe start teaching it to people who are actually interested.
Sharing knowledge has always started small for me – five or so students in a “beta-test” version of a class, or one person in my living room asking for help about this or that. But, I believe now, the things you are good at, the things that you have to share, will find their audience, a grateful one at that, if you keep offering your knowledge and skills to people who seem interested. Like minded organizations are a great place to meet these people, and even to make a foray into creating presentations to groups.
I was so shocked at how good it felt to be able to answer questions and have someone find the answers useful in their life, and how good it felt to help lead someone to finding their own answers.
It was the revelation of the week: If you often feel like giving advice – maybe you aren’t just a controlling person, maybe you are a teacher looking for students.
What would you teach if you could teach anything?
Susannah Raulino's Blog 
Well. What can I say. I figure I probably have a lot to teach but I also figure I am very bossy. The feeling of teh first is not often enough tempered by awareness of the second, Result: occasional mortification. Actually pretty often I am not teaching but just being creative, thinking of ideas, exploring. Seems to feel the same as bosy to a lot of people. I struggle with balancing this!
Sounds like you will teach something creative. Maybe if you dabble with the idea of what the syllabus of a class you teach would look like, you will get an idea what it is.
And you can always create solo, or with strong people, or with people who love your input. I am lucky enough to do all three. Keep looking for those opportunities, you will find them too!
That’s a hard question. When I’ve had the opportunity to teach someone at work, or show a kid how to do something, I love that moment when you can SEE that they get it. But WHAT would I teach? Maybe History, because it is a story, and I love telling stories. I just wish History were funnier, because I most love making people laugh.
Everybody wishes History was funnier! That’s a wonderful idea. You could teach it by telling stories and writing stories. I bet if you wrote a story about some historical event from a funny perspective you could volunteer for a reading hour somewhere like a library or classroom and read it. That would be great! Then write a funny novelization of Lewis and Clark’s journey or something like that. How fun!
I can’t decide if I’m a teacher, but I like to give advice and ‘help.’ It’s like the information I have is so valuable and sacred to me, that all I want to do is share it with people. It can feel bossy or nosy. A blogger I read talks about finding her ‘right people.’ Something like that.
2 professional projects, one that I started and one that I worked on last year, have both recently passed on to others. I’m real happy that I don’t have to do that work anymore, and that they have found a way to contribute. I think that’s important to us.
What kind of knowledge is it that you have that is sacred to you that you want to share? Is it related to health? emotional well being? relationships? creativity? the economy? I’m curious…
Wait, I meant to say that I encouraged those people, and I’m real proud of that.
If I could teach anything in the world, it would probably be poetry. I find a lot of people are afraid of it or intimidated by it. That, or tap dancing. Or maybe both, one through the other.
(Personally, I find that history is actually pretty hilarious – well, the sort of funny-through-tears sort of hilarious, but funny nonetheless. Notquiteold (I thought it was notquitegold at first!), I bet you could find a way to teach history in a fun, exciting way *and* have a chuckling pointing out the ongoing folly of human behavior from caves to space shuttles. The whole thing is a Greek tragicomedy. Mel Brooks ‘History of the World, Part One’ pretty well nailed the human condition.)
I am very intimidated by poetry. I will take your class.
I love the idea of Greed tragicomedy. I think that’s the improv format I’ve been looking for!