handwritten on November 21, 2022
After today I have spent the past hour wondering how many individuals never truly know their impact. And then I wonder how many people (as humans) would know greater happiness or greater truth about their kindness and their talents if we, as humans, were able to experience our self-worth in a tangible, contagious way. If we treated our impact like laughter-heard, spread around, visible, tangible- I can only imagine that perhaps gratitude for human kind as a whole would look differently and gratitude for ourselves would also look differently if we made it seen. Made it known. Walking into a sea of old students- well there simply isn't anything like it. I guess what I am trying to say is, you...
handwritten on November 15, 2022
Well today was my first snow inside my classroom because for eight collective years (including my student teaching) I had no windows until this year. I don't think I have ever felt or seen so much joy then when my students realized there were large, fluffy whimsical flakes falling outside the window. It was pure magic. Cheers to first snows, children who remind you of the miracle of EVERYTHING and a chance to stop and enjoy nature. What a beautiful day today was inside room 22. Certainly one I will never forget. Never take those windows for granted.
handwritten on November 14, 2022
This year has been a year that has allowed me to really give thanks more than any year before. I've been trying to practice gratitude for a while, and I think it is much like a muscle, if you stop for a while, you become winded and once you start again it sometimes takes a while to get back on track. In many ways, leaving a place is almost a whimsical reminder of gratitude because (at least for me) gratitude generally coincides with nostalgia or a remembering of all the beautiful rather than focusing on the difficult. Tonight was a special night for me because I was able to reconnect with a previous student. I was greeted with the upmost hospitality, a dining room table to practice math...
handwritten on November 5, 2022
It feels like forever in half that I blogged about anything and yet everything has happened! Here we are, and it is already November 4th! There is so much I want to say but that would not be easily explained through words, so I suppose I'll be be brief in saying that this has been a truly life changing year. There have been many shifts and turns, some heartbreaking moments and yet some moments that have also been some of the most beautiful. Lessons surrounding new life and a renewed perspective as we welcomed our littlest family member, new lessons inside a new classroom, new passions and interests that have risen again in the midst of life's busy nature. Life is never perfect but life...
handwritten on August 14, 2022
If you find yourself losing that spark
that sense of gratitude that used to leave you feeling blessed
thankful, full of pizzaz and spirit and whimsy and just a thirst and a passion
to spread joy and goodness and community
there is always a reason for the season
and I'm here to say that with adjustments and slight changes
that love comes flooding back
reminding you of your calling, your passions
and allowing you to experience authentic love and joy
this summer with
a little rest and endless creativity
and reconnecting with community
my heart felt like that of a child's
I feel unsure of the future but not lost
unsure but not isolated
unsure but not disheartened
unsure but not filled with...
