handwritten on August 24, 2019
If you haven't found yourself near a body of water in some time-I understand. Life becomes busy. However, a body of water is like a flask of unspoken thoughts and dreams, and so I suggest that you trot down somewhere (it can be a lake or a fountain or even a river.) Essentially, you want to find yourself where you can see your reflection. And just for a moment, look down into that flask of dreams and contemplate where you are now. Remain present. Then, focus on where you intend to be heading in maybe a few hours or a few days, a few months even a few years. I think sometimes just seeing our reflection in such a vast space funnels through our dreams and the dreams of others with greater...
handwritten on August 20, 2019
We had a bit of a professional development tie-dye frenzy today. As teachers, we pride ourselves on thematic beginnings. Thus, our theme for this year is in honor of a donut chain in Pittsburgh entitled Peace Love and Little Donuts. We entitled our theme for this year "Peace. Power & Positivity."
Ironically, I have been quite obsessed over color and color hues and combination of colors and how vibrant colors are or the effect one gets from more subdued colors. My grandmother, who has a very difficult time seeing these days, always remarks upon the fact that she wishes she could see more colors in the world.
And so the combination of tie-dye and donuts on the surface level tells us to...
handwritten on August 19, 2019
We had our annual kickoff to school and due to the fact that this year and last year have been "The Year of Fred" particularly in the city of Pittsburgh, we had Mr. McFeely come talk to us and inspire us before officially beginning our school year. I found it quite special that the man whom I used to love on the Mr. Roger's show moved to the Fox Chapel area twenty some years ago and all three of his children attended school where I work. He talked about Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and the importance of teachers who inspire.
I have heard countless quotes of wonderment throughout my years. However, there was a quote today from Mr. Roger's himself (though through the mouth of Mr. McFeely.) The...
handwritten on August 17, 2019
Every once and a while, you forget to check the weather channel and find yourself in a very laughter-filled but also rain-filled situation. Every once and a while you stand back and realize just the unbelievable odds that a small microburst would be hitting at that very moment in that specific spot and that particular time. As I was waiting outside for dinner, I suddenly noticed a dark rain cloud looming overhead, suddenly that raincload became a sprinkler which then turned into buckets of sideways rain. And you know you are in a good space when the people surrounding you aren't the least bit concerned about the rain or their food becoming soggy. Conversations are had as humans we connect...
handwritten on August 16, 2019
If you haven't already experienced this feeling once, you should try every so often to step inside someone else's shoes and actually visit their working space. Because if we are honest with ourselves, our friends tell us about their trials and errors at work and so on, but how many of us have actually visited their world? My husband and myself have completely opposite career paths as I am a teacher in a pretty colorful and vibrant atmosphere and he spends almost all of his time at the hospitals. Yesterday evening he was on call, but we decided that we would eat some dinner in Oakland outside and make a date night out of it. I finished some of my lesson plans, he took some calls and then I...
