An environment of respect must be the context for our complex reality to occur as well as the way to work towards an even more respectful environment for everyone. Good basket weaving learning and action cannot happen in an environment lacking respect for all of it's elements. The teacher and student must respect one another, themselves, the materials, the process, and its product. Many of the thoughts about writing Lamott shares support this emphasis on respect, for example, "you have to respect the qualities that make them [your characters] who they are" (p. 108).
Respect for the present is awe in presence. This would be a weaver's respect for everything all combined together into what they are doing, one another, the materials, the process, etc. Lamott effectively describes this as a way to deal with reality that is one of the greatest, most helpful experiential skills I want to help share with others. On page 102 Lamott says this:
To be engrossed by something outside ourselves is a powerful antidote for the rational mind, the mind that so frequently has its head up its own ass - seeing things in a such a narrow and darkly narcissistic way that it presents a colo-rectal theology, offering hope to no one.
When I am feeling beaten-up and no good, to look at something like the squirrel Lamott did or a crow or whatever, and when I really consider it as a respectable fellow being, I feel more grounded in reality and more open to hope. This is something I do want to share with others, especially young people.
