Today was our Tedx rehearsal and it would be an understatement to say that I felt a tsunami wave of anxiety roll over me. Nothing is more unwhimsical than bringing 13 students to the middle school and realizing they aren’t ready. You aren’t ready. No one is ready. Which brings me to my perception and reflection regarding readiness. If readiness indicates whimsy or lack thereof. Then, in my life, I’m always without whimsy. As someone who is type A, I constantly equate readiness with perfection. Except, I never feel ready. Half-way through our rehearsal, I was reminded of a quote I head read just a few hours earlier-one chosen as the “favorite quote of the year” by one of my students. “A good leader is not meant to wield power but to empower others.” I had to think hard on this one for a while because the student who picked this quote may be the most mild-mannered quietest boy in my class. Yet, he must having been observing and watching all year because something I do not do as a teacher leader is wield power over my students. It is our curriculum and our classroom and our adventures..not mine. In that moment I looked up at my 13 students who were supposed to be studying their notecards, and I saw them giggling on the stage next to the giant TEDx letters. Why? Because they weren’t dwelling on readiness. They were only dwelling on the mere fact that they would be empowering others on this stage with excitement, feet dangling, almost as if they were small puppies waving their tail. There was no nervousness here. When we forget power and readiness, we focus on empowering others and the whimsical potential they have rather than focusing selfishly on ourselves.