I started dancing again : )
It counts.
I can tell a difference in my mindset at work and at home.
I take class 3 times a week, sometimes for more than 3 hours at a time. It just feels nice to be DOING something again : )
WOO-HOO! I’m in the middle of a two week Beginning ASL class! I have really enjoyed it and the class has given me a better understanding of deaf culture and ASL pragmatics, semantics and syntax. I’m looking forward to signing with some of my students in the fall… I think it will help them and me, too, to get more acclimated to our classroom environment. Plus, I’ll get to take the second course in the fall!
but it hasn’t been..
in fact..
there’s been so much to be happy about lately
that i haven’t been writing it..
i’ve been in the middle of it.
which certainly is not a complaint.
So…
here are some new things that i have thoroughly realized (once again, in some cases) make me happy…..
~ michael.
~ teaching little kids
~ autonomy v. interdependence
~ thunderstorms
~ books…lots of them.
~ snapdragons & gerber daisies
~ God’s idea of Jubilee
~ clementines
I’ve always been interested in ASL but have never had full opportunity to learn ASL, other than a few words here and there. But this year, I’ve been teaching a particular student whose primary means of communication is ASL. He and I learn one new word a day… and I’m THE TEACHER! I think over the summer, I’d like to take an actual class, either through a church-community or an academic/university setting.
Oh how behind I am…
~ The Port of Miami
~ the word “Yes”
~ snuggling
~ those “Green” lightbulbs that look like corkscrews
~ Tool songs
~ the NZ group, Fat Freddy’s Drop
Really jumbled, really confused, but shining nonetheless.
I can’t think straight, and I don’t like everything I think, and I’m afraid I’m gonna flair out before I even get an initial spark… but faith, without action, is dead(James 2:17)... so here I go… into whatever the next adventure may be.
I drew a picture yesterday and I wish I could post it, because I really like it, and I think it’s very indicative of how I’ve been feeling lately. maybe I will try to scan it and post it or something.
that I’ve set my clock 20 minutes fast, in hopes that I will trick my brain into believing it is late every morning…and I still hit snooze 4 times or so. But, my brain is smarter than me. And it knows that it can sleep in the extra 20 minutes… and while I haven’t been late to work or to appointments, I’ve definitely been pushing it. I want this to stop! I want to have the correct time on my alarm clock without rushing it. I want to take it moment by moment, glad to wake up and glad to lay down. But now, I’m slightly concerned that my brain has become trained to see the clock and expect it to be 20 minutes fast. What if I change my alarm clock to the accurate time and my brain doesn’t keep up?? Then I WILL be late! All the time! Maybe I should gradually reduce the difference between real-time and alarm-clock-time. Maybe by 5 minutes every few days? Any ideas anybody? : )
When I finished this goal a while ago.. I had been listening to Polyphonic Spree and feeling like there are definitely things that we/you/I can be doing to change/help/uplift/serve our friends/local community/state/country/government/global community at-large. I have and I waste so much, when there are so many other people who need and want.
I listened to a friend say the other night that he desires a servant’s heart all the time, but gets annoyed everytime he’s inconvenienced at his workplace. He mused at the fact that he wants to live in humility and service to others, but he doesn’t even have a consistent attitude when he’s getting PAID to serve.
His thoughts made me reflect on my own selfish attitudes, especially where my students and my attitude toward school is concerned. I read in James the other night, that Faith, without Action, is dead. It’s time for me to act. It’s time for me to believe I can act for the benefit of others and less for myself.
I recently read Hawking’s “The Universe in a Nutshell” and it was incredible. My brain hurt, but I felt like my mind was hearing a symphony right in tune with the infinite and finite nature of our universe and the music of God. I KNOW this sounds dramatic and crazy and unnatural. It is. and it was.
I’m a little behind it would seem….
But here are some more happy things…
~ old rave photos
~ Scrubs
~ lunar eclipses on the beach
~ peppermint
~ Jack Johnson (sigh)
~ fireflies
~ postcards from long ago
~ photos of my grandparents when they were my age
So I’m still in the middle of my February book, “Only Revolutions,” but I managed to squeeze in a half-credit unabridged book-on-CD. Now.. I prefer by ALL means to READ books with my own two eyes… but I love Palahniuk and a friend already had the CD, so I went with it. Plus, this might be one of the only books I’ve ever listened to that may have more impact when LISTENED to… as the narrator is speaking into the black box of a plane that he is about to crash. man.. Palahniuk is awesome. So. Goal still on target. 12 books for fun by the end of the year… 3 in the bag so far.
Cumberland Island, GA is amazing. wild horses, endless empty beaches, turn of the century ruins, and 3 habitats in one – ocean, maritime forests and marshland. I was, literally, a happy camper. The lunar eclipse was happening while I was there and the trees were orange with moonlight. I think I hiked a little over 21 miles over 3 days… which may not be much by “backpacking standards,” but for me and my inexperience – it felt like a huge accomplishment. Even though it wasn’t a solitary trip, I still had a lot of time to think and be quiet and take in all of my surroundings.
I am really, really looking forward to the next trip – I only have reservations about being alone at night, when I go solitaire. I don’t think it will be a problem… but I imagine I will get paranoid. This goal is one of those things I would like to do, not only for the experience of it, but to prove to myself I can. Maybe in April. : )
‘Only Revolutions’ by M.Z.Danielewski
So i’m about a month behind. Here it is nearly March and I have by no means gotten through my second book. Although, I would choose my most complicated book for the shortest month of the year :). Oh well… so far this read is definitely worth the mental effort and time. I read ‘House of Leaves’ almost two years ago and fell in love with it. I’m hoping ’...Revolutions’ also exceeds my expectations.
Trying to put a bit in savings toward this goal from every paycheck. Bought an aerial 65 backpack and have been researching eurail passes, hostel locales and flight tickets for a 30+/- day trek. Have a semi-itinerary planned through about 8 or 9 countries. Hoping to have more verified, set-in-stone plans by April 1. We’ll see.
So i LOVE my students… they’re hilarious and insightful and full of energy and i can see in most of them the actualization of my hopes for the future of the world. BUT, some days they drive me crazy.
Today is one of those days.
But i have to remember that i feel this way when I am the one having issues with energy and motivation. My students only really make me nuts when i’ve not been exercising or sleeping well or taking care of myself properly. i haven’t laughed today, yet. i imagine it will come soon, though… plus, my OWN attitude is in immediate need of adjusting. So, with deep breaths and a quiet moment… here goes looking for the lighter-side of the classroom.
Here’s some more for this week… so many things to be happy about. :) (one may notice that I’ve had somewhat of an international appetite recently)...
~ knowing global change is possible
~ egyptian music
~ lanterns
~ mochi green tea ice cream balls
~ bookstores
~ pictures of my grandparents when they were my age
~ rhombitruncated icosidodecahedrons
~ popples (from the 80s!)
I have found the non-profit organization that I will give to – and my passion for this goal has been renewed in a big way!
The organization is Invisible Children and they are promoting peace and education in Uganda, a country that has felt the impact of a 20 year war in the region of Uganda and Sudan. Over the span of those 20 years, over 50,000 children have been abducted by the LRA rebel army, removed from their villages and taken to the African bush, to be turned into child-soldiers through extreme acts of violence.
If they do not submit to the commands of the soldiers, they are beat. If they attempt to run away, they are killed. The ones who do manage to get away from the soldiers, must go into hiding – among the thousands of children who, every night, leave their village (for fear of abduction) and walk to the city to sleep in bus terminals, hospital shelters and outdoor verandas.
But there is a change coming…. and it is earth-moving.
In 2006, peace talks began between the LRA and Ugandan government and since then, child abductions have dramatically decreased. The people of Uganda need peace for all and education for the children more than anything. And the Invisible Children organization has set out to positively effect both of those needs.
They are changing “culture, policy and lives” by presenting the facts and personal stories of the people of Uganda, creating events in the U.S. to grab political attention and create policy change, and supporting individuals and schools in Uganda to foster the future of the country’s youth.
For just $3 a week (!), the organization can sustain programs that promote education and meet the needs of many of the children in this part of the world.
I don’t work for Invisible Children. I’m just one person, who saw their film and realized that i CAN do something to effect global change. In fact, I have a responsibility to do so – and that fact humbles and encourages me.
Please check out http://www.invisiblechildren.com to see for yourself.
