Stream of consciousness(4)

Blog38:

New day- just a given … Beginning hours; I must ease into it now …

7:13         Science class visit or not for today?   I better not.  I did not consult first; should I connect with content colleagues re: pull-out students and proficiencies.  What’s in the best interest of the chaps?  Too many docs … W-APT, Change of Status, Fluency Notification, etc.; which ones are really urgent?

        Collaborative work and Clerical tasks … why do they get complicated?  Where’s the joy?

8:25 I have a few notes to write … 5 … maybe 7?  My fingers can’t keep up with my brain.  OK – where’s that master sked?  Remember to check with colleagues on unit topics and vocab to emphasize.  What are the performance product expectations?   Those are students’ challenges. 

        Process … process!  The journey of the process is always most important.  What could be learned from barriers getting to the goal?  What are the quick, reachable objectives, and how do young minds develop this skill?

9:44 Cross check with Vicki on serve-rosters. Touch base with Debra on records for incoming students; request copies of those enrolment forms!  Why doesn’t she automatically feed those to me?  Cum records … those will be a pain this academic year.  Now- where are those teacher reports?  How many mentees this year?  Schedule headaches … why are the times overlapping?  Whose bright idea was that?

        In the course of overwhelming circumstances, de-stressing is crucial.  Crunches … neck, back, arms; breathe in … hold it a minute … breathe out – 3 times!  Don’t panic about tasks that will not get done.  Focus on what can be accomplished.  Take care of yourself so that you can take care of others.  Say this mantra over and over …

1:49 My shoulders are again nagging!  Neck roll … stretch … take a hall walk; do it now! Restroom stop: what’s the matter with the hot water? Water … I really should be thankful that there’s water, cold as it is.  Brains … remind me how water was a scarcity in the suburbs of Manila!  Remember the rationed hours? What of distances to walk in order to get clean, safe water?  Here I am --- complaining!   My aching shoulders have now blown into a really annoying headache.  The day has yet to go before I could get relief.  Perhaps there’s a pain reliever in the Clinic?

3:40 I’m still here, but why? I realize that scheduling isn’t my cup of tea; ‘been working on various models for teacher schedules, and I can’t crack the best path yet.  I admire those souls who have the patience.  I should perhaps send it to the data Coach, and let him tweak it!  I’ll do just that.  ‘Got to get out of here.  My tummy is grumbling.  Wonder what Mickey’s crafting for dinner; Mickey—so very dependable!  BUT – he could be messy.  Wonder how the critters are doing.  Cinn must get to the Vet.  Did Mickey get her there? 

End of work week always brings a mixed-bag of feelings: excitement, stress, anxiety.  I don’t like it when I put workplace tasks in my weekend or holiday, but I just can’t seem to get out of it.  This work-imposed mindset is sometimes a curse. 

Enough complaining.  Act!

Mind-Heart Shapers

Blog37:
Philosophers think of serious ideas

Mathematicians calculate numbers, measure shapes

Scientists explore and organize worlds

Young minds in my care peruse key ideas

Young minds in my care search details supporting key ideas

 

Counselors listen and advice

Social workers assist with practical needs, opportunities

Sports coaches train teams, athletes

Young minds in my care learn to produce sounds and make words

Young minds in my care begin to read and make meanings of text

 

Librarians organize books, assist in research

Technocrats tie together skills, ideas, technology

Pundits share opinions, analyze events

Young minds in my care use and build upon what they know

Young minds in my care make connections of past, present and future

 

 

Engineers construct, build, and repair

Architects design buildings

Surveyors measure details of land spaces

Young minds in my care expound on abstract ideas

Young minds in my care think through concrete situations

 

Chefs and dietitians prepare, measure food

Seamstresses and tailors put together clothing

Community Organizers rally people to a cause

Young minds in my care listen often, and then speak out their minds

Young minds in my care critically think on similarities and differences

 

Artists create beauty

Judges settle disputes

Spiritual leaders inspire hope

Young minds in my care understand a writer’s craft

Young minds in my care integrate visual, spoken, written thoughts

 

Journalists uncover truth

Police officers keep peace

Doctors save lives

Young minds in my care read poetry and prose

Young minds in my care explore scientific, artistic, technical information

 

Pilots operate controls of spacecraft

Navigators plan complex ways

Captains take charge

Young minds in my care figure complex pieces of information

Young minds in my care write about journeys and dreams

 

We are a village of planners, thinkers, doers

We are an interdependent world of workers 

We are united though diverse

We are teachers … mind and heart shapers!

All in Day

Blog36:

All in a Day …

 Drive on and be true

Love will see you through
Keep out of trouble
Be responsible.

Drive on and be true

Remember … people look up to you
Enjoy the day; avoid threat
Don’t fret nor get upset.

Drive on and be true

Believe you can do
Stay active; be productive
Let your thoughts be creative.

Drive on and be true

Focus on great things to do
Say a prayer; take a break
Stay sane for your sake.

Drive on and be true

Shrug off worries that ensue
Bloom and feel alive
Life will flourish and thrive.

 Drive on and be true

All in a day, and night too
Allow your light to shine bright and astound
No doubt your world will go ‘round and ‘round!

People

 Blog35:

In all our lives we are involved with, and are surrounded by people.  Being surrounded doesn’t however imply that they have our best interests at heart.  In the course of time, and for many reasons, we do break away from one another or continue to get connected.   Most come and go, like a wheel.  As journeys take shape, we meet more people and build new connections.  It is in this chosen or incidental connections that we get to know those who are either worth keeping or forgetting just because.

People take an interesting or boring stance at times.  I’m not sure if personalities dictate that, but it is what I observe, anyway.  Then again … it could be that folks intentionally make that choice too.   For instance an acquaintance, Sandra, simply doesn’t want to talk in a group gathering even if she has much to share.  She’d rather listen first to issues of the moment before she even considers making a comment or sharing relevant information.  She has a matter-of-fact voice and countenance, and she prefers to always observe events and others.  If she were compelled to contribute to a conversation, she’ll do.  Otherwise I don’t expect her to say something.  People like Sharon, in order to not be perceived as boring, must be invited into the conversation.  It’s the right thing to do.

Other people are both absolutely choosing and wanting only to make significant info or comment to share or they’re simply kibitzing when they open their mouth.  One person I know, Percy, draws the attention of the crowd.  She seldom speaks, but when she opens her mouth, people around her pay attention and they gravitate to her words.  There’s almost this assured feeling in the air that what’s to come should be listened to intently.  She weighs her thoughts so that what he says is reflective of good thinking, importance and wisdom.  The opposite character displays an attitude like that of a clanging cymbal – sometimes noisy, and insignificant.  A person who embarks on small talk, small bites … either buys and kills time to be noticed or does it because he may not know what to do in the stillness of time;  he may feel that something must be said in an  awkward moment.  Sometimes, it is acted upon by one in to simply fill time.

There are people who definitely reflect fruits of positive spirit and those who outwardly display arrogance.  I’m convinced that those who fall into this opposing character display are the best and the worst.   Purcell and Heathcliff, my lunch-break colleagues, are perfect examples of good nature, calm and gentleness.  Both are soft-spoken, cheery, polite and respectful.  When they’re with a crowd one can almost be sure that words of encouragement will come out at an appropriate time.  Those around will get a cheerful comment.  In a testy situation, they are the ones that surely will find and say words that bring calm.  I call them my ‘feel-good’ buddies.   And then there are people like Shovet – arrogant, faultfinding, thoughtless, cold and callous.  Shovet thinks of herself as one better, and more capable than others; she’s one who doesn’t pause to claim knowledge about something.  She takes the stance of a ‘know-it-all’ and more often than not, speaks without thoroughly thinking.  Her words convey poison.  Something dark and ugly are without fail going to come out of her mouth once she opens it.  It is incomprehensible how she comes up with her heart and mind-stabbing words and thoughts, but she seems to do such with ease.  Always, there’s something to criticize - work or opinion.  In a circle, people quickly avoid her.  People scurry away from her presence so they don’t get victimized by her insensitive words.

Whatever people choose to do, become or act upon, they unfortunately or fortunately could.  In civilized society though, we want to always get out there in the midst of others participating in respectful conversation, showing consideration, supporting and encouraging one another.  Lifting up someone and expecting the best of others may take a deliberate effort at times, but it does wonders to the morale of one or all.

Stream of consciousness(3)

Blog34:

Forty five days at the workplace begins.  So much to cover, so little a time!

5:27  VitaD pill today- don’t you forget!  No - can’t forget it.  Mick’s on top of it.  I must call in refill for VitaD prescription.  How’s Isaac typhoon affecting Florida (RNC Convention)?  On  Morning Joe talk show … Mika, Joe , and Barnacle are already stretching their lungs.   Well – look at those very casual get ups; almost everyone is geared for wet weather except Halperin; he’s too formal for the team today. 

6:52  I still have no clue where my station this AM is going to be; maybe I’ll play it safe, and help those parents and campus visiting guests coming in.  I’ll do just that. I’m still sleepy.  Wake up!  Hug the critters; Cinn’s left eye is blurry.  Dink – come here boy and let Mama hug you! It’s going to hurt a bit leaving them.  Too long a stay got me attached!  Head out now; lunch? How about that grabbing that corn-on-a-cob in the Fridge?

9:13  Hhhmmm … on plate today: count and sort service delivery, attendance check, roster check, email Alicia for template, meet students and their parents, consult with colleagues.  On PLC requirement … third might not be the right group to be a part of; I’ll have to wait and see … I don’t like that too much.  Those posters and theme message have to get on the front wall.  And new routes for emergencies – print those … in color, and laminate for posterity.  Call in prescription … now!  Emails … get those before mid -day.  Take home those resources and begin identifying which ones to use, and with whom?  That doggone tag cleaner – forgot it!

11:01  One big task partly, successfully done!  I must update in two hours, and send it out.  Get to that website … mercy … site’s bogged down; I’ll be upset (but mustn’t), if I don’t get this one really important info.  Taken care of in 30 minutes!

1:50  PM duty calls. ‘Van pick ups’- the long wait!   Why did Russell put two people without a clue on duty?  No complaints anymore.  This too shall pass. Let’s see … No problem, Heath.  Here’s how it is done; Matt come on down and figure out the system.  We don’t want children to be displaced or left out.  Would I be expected already to attend one of the PLC meetings tomorrow?  I am not sure about which group to sign up with now.  Consult … consult!  Remember to meet Vicki Plott at five after seven early tomorrow.  Got the template from Alicia.  She delivers … all the time!

3:45  My feet are ‘killing’ me!  And to think that these shoes aren’t supposed to hurt them?  Well- come to think of it, it has been more than eight hours they have been holding me up.  Soak or get them to the Squeeze machine?  Get on both, perhaps.  What now?  You are fatigued too?  My lower back and right hip are screaming p-a-i-n as well.  Join in neck!

It had been one nondescript, yet  well-accomplished day.  It wasn’t one of those days I enjoy.  what's the good part of it?  It is now almost finished - here! 

Trio

Blog33:

1-   Cinn

Playful, Curious

Shreds, chews, gnaws

With ‘gusto’ she runs

Indoors and outdoors she searches

Bark, leaf, and grass she hauls

Bundles, finds, only she knows what for!

Pup

-----------------------

2-   Dink

Defender, Conqueror

Watches, guards, shields

Sensing danger, he growls

Back and forth he bounces

Eyes he keeps on your move

‘Block I will … don’t you dare go!’

          Shih-tzu

 ------------------------

3-   Beloved

Hardworking, thoughtful

Thrives, labors, surprises

With purpose he acts

He blends toils with laughs

Wipes all despair and lifts blues

He ponders, “What more can I do?”

MyMikeMiguelMickey

Procrastination

Blog32:

Saturday … day off before the long haul back to compensated work, and here I am.  Back to cramming!  Where exactly did all my so called loosely-structured time go?  All the well-intentioned time appropriation for that and this project … gone.  Time has not stood still.

Six weeks ago, I told myself that my burgeoning personal closet must take front and center treatment.  I had hopes of purging items of clothing in my hanging rack, but attachment to them – a rationalization of mine, pushed the plan aside.  The same happened to a dozen pairs of shoes that could benefit some charity.  They still rest on the shelves.  They are there – ‘sitting as pretty’ as they came.  Was that two years ago … or more, that I told myself was something I wanted to do with them?  And those trinkets, odds and ends that really must get out of drawers are also still in there! 

That predicament is no one else’s fault but mine, I know.  I have kept personal projects aside and allowed all sorts of influences to crowd about them.  What of those sensible … senseless (?) stacks of documents in the shed and in bookshelves?  I promised to sort and diligently look at them one more time, but there they are still … back in the back of things … still waiting, calling a bit louder, now demanding time! 

In two other storage areas, souvenir and gift items are stacked without any order of importance.  They’re thrown there and told to get comfy until time gets available for classifying them.  Like many other things in pile, they are crying out for equal attention … and again, time.  In yet another six weeks, they must get organized in some fashion and assigned a certain destination. 

Is there anything worse than procrastination?  

No, there isn’t.  When we do not act on a task before us, it gawks at us and reminds incessantly that it is there like an elephant.  It doesn’t hide, it laughs loud.  It doesn’t leave as a stranger who has abused its welcome.  It is like pain that keeps one awake all day.  It is just there staring at us straight in the eye.  It’s like a dark cloud hovering over us … waiting to drop and get us quickly drenched at a time we don’t really want to get soaked.   When we postpone what needs action, it’s an opportunity lost.  When we put off communication, it’s a lost message.  When we delay a decision, someone can possibly get hurt.    There’s nothing more difficult to recover than time or action postponed.  Stalling, delaying, putting off something that could be done today, here and now, does no one any good.   Procrastination – you are wicked!

Where do I go from here, you ask?  Get going!

Spoken Words

Blog31:

        Let’s pay close attention for a moment to interaction that uses words in our midst.  Let’s really listen to words.  From spoken words, we either note courtesy, calmness or an irritation, a disgust.   

        On any given working day, we take action on issues we deem really important hoping that we get a reaction … a response … that takes care of them.  I did just that recently.  I needed to clarify information that came to my desk so I emailed the two persons charged with the process.  I offered facts and asked questions.  It didn’t take long to get an answer of sort from person A: “Systems in place created the information you have.  It has nothing to do with what I did or didn’t do to them.  Don’t blame me … blah … blah and more blah.” I was baffled and annoyed at the same time by the manner and content of that reply characteristic of arrogance, uninformative ‘gobbledygook’.  It was totally meaningless.  The person on the other end might as well not have sent anything.  Person B responds:  “I don’t have answers to your query right now, but let me dig up further, and get back with you.” That was a matter of fact reply; it was nothing fancy, but I could sense from it a thoughtful, respectful consideration of a communication piece sent.  

I don’t doubt that you have had some situation of kind happen to you where instead of a meaningful exchange, you are given thoughtless answers.  You end up researching further so that you eventually get to the bottom of it and obtain the necessary assistance you thought and hoped you might get in one step.   

At one of so called ‘professional meeting-gatherings’ I unfortunately had to sit today, I heard one colleague comment about another’s manner of speech; the person spoken of comes from a culturally different region and had a very strong linguistic accent.  Instead of listening intently to the content of the man's speech, this bold, rude person in my circle stopped the speaker’s information-sharing, and asked, “From which region of the country do you come?  I don’t understand what you’re saying!”   I almost collapsed in embarrassment for the addressed visiting lecturer.  It was a blatant attack on his speech. 

What do you do in a situation like that?  How might you feel?  The incident was a definite put down.  It was an attack on one’s personhood, an underestimation, an unkind, tactless, cold perception, a wrongful character or ability judgment by one for another … just because one’s speech appeared as not fitting the ‘accepted norm’ if there’s one such measure.

Judgments loosely imposed on others are merciless, I think, but many people act on them day in and day out without much thought.  Judgments about who we are and what about or for what we stand are often passed on based on almost anything – appearance or delivery of our thoughts for example.  We pass judgments that people are either smart or un-smart based on their speaking voice, accent, use of words; we dislike or discount people for styles of their hair, color of their skin or eyes, etc.  

It does not take much to hurt feelings with false claims or perceptions using words and gestures.  What hurts the most though is the sad reality that judgments heavily come from arrogance and ignorance.   Far worse is when the judging character does not even know that he or she is acting on it.

What could we glean from these, you ask? What do our words say about our internal climate, viewpoint, and perception?  How do what we think or say transfer to someone else?  Simply for us all to pay attention to words we choose and manner of using those words!

Stream of consciousness(2)

Blog30:

            Mind … I can’t keep up with you …

            6:13 AM … More ridiculous blame game over the country’s trillion deficit, and which presidential candidate would really do something about it; who will present a balanced budget in the upcoming fiscal year?  Questions … and more questions … sound bites can get irritating, indeed!  Top News – worries on more West Nile Virus affecting residents; 47 states report casualties.  Let’s ‘knock-on-wood’ - it doesn’t come around NC.  What is Center for Disease Control’s initiative on it, by the way?  Threats of Hurricane Isaac are looming down south and the Caribbean.  Will it come to the Carolinas?

            7:10 AM … ‘Got to rush now; must get to the workplace before 8AM!  What can be done before hitting the showers … clean-up the counters, fold the dry laundry;  why am I doing half-a dozen laundry wash/dry during the week?  That’s ridiculous!  7:20 AM … Hit the showers now or you’d be late!

            9:09 AM … What could be quickly completed here?  Copy files, activity sheets, and documentation notes, purge a bit more and give room to newer ones that may require filing.  Those banner streamers must get up on the walls before Open House at 6PM.

            10:17 AM … Curriculum maps … I must get those searched, filed and printed.  Dear me, morning’s almost gone, and I haven’t even started that Newsletter!  Put a reminder to look hunt for those language test results.  Scheduling students for session visits, when will I get that done and what’s the best approach for tackling it?  Weaker ones get more session times!

            12:18 AM … No sit-down lunch today.  Check with Data Manager on incoming rosters and files.  Now … which colleague will acquiesce to team-teaching?  How many mentees this year?  When will I get a chance to inventory office resources or request supplies? Were the Busop brothers, and JT retained?  Don’t forget to check!

            01:14 PM … Check-off database glitch notes to ‘honchos’.  More paper pushing, documents checking, clerical work here and there; when’s this going to end?  Should I stop by the Nail Salon and get my nails in some decent fashion?  Time … why do I run after you all the time?  You’re my enemy today.  I better get going if I wanted to get a catnap before Open House tonight.  Could Mickey be home?  I failed to check schedules today with him.  Dinner with him, maybe or I’d sup’ on my own? 

4:00 PM Walks of expectation … pick up bin trash … tackle one more laundry load … never ending task, but necessary.  What else is on plate today?  Email Allan and Miriam.  Should I send notice to Alicia and Bob?  The weekend already looks packed even before it arrives.  Time – why you are my enemy? 

Time … I can’t keep up with you …

Choices

Blog29:

          Which outfit today, the blue or the brown theme?  Should I push to get a few chores done now or drive early to my meeting place and avoid traffic?  Must I stop to pick up that turtle on the road or drive around it?  Must I wait or make a ‘go’ over the yellow light? 

          Choice of a direction or decision seems to hover unceasingly over our heads (and hearts?).  We are constantly weighing a move to make, a thought to verbalize. Doctors determine the urgency of strategy in a life/death emergency, and then choose to save a life rather than make planned decisions which patient gets served first.  Firefighters choose to seize the urgent call of preventing the spread of fire.  At any airport towers, traffic controllers watch fervently and choose safe paths for planes’ comings and goings; dilly-dallying has no place or a disaster occurs.

          Why do we make choices? 

For one, I think we do it to preserve and maintain a healthy body.  We choose to take care of what we put in our body so it would give us the right amount and needed nutrition.  We choose to exercise and keep our emotions on check to keep and maintain the rhythmic beating and complex functions of our systems.  We choose to physically rest in order to allow our body to heal from fatigue.  We inform one another of wholesome health practices, and put in place preventive measures that avoid spread of contagious and life-threatening illnesses. We choose to feed our minds reasonable, stimulating thoughts that turn our spirits to become fruitful. 

We opt to make a choice as well in order to ward off dangers or impending disasters.  There is truth to the adage, “An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure.”  We build sturdy infrastructure so as to avoid flooding.  We reforest denuded lands to replace what we have used, and to restore balance in our environments and habitats.  We put in place strategies and evacuation plans to protect lives in cases of tornadoes, earthquakes, storms.  We invite our vulnerable population to be aware and mindful of tactics by predators.  We keep our basic resources of water and food supply free from threats of contamination. 

To put meaning and purpose in life, we also choose to live together interdependently.  We do not choose entirely to live independent lives, although we love our personal differences, freedoms and spaces.  We are happier and more content when we bring the best in others.  We feel an inner satisfaction when we help someone get out of a tight situation.  We are lifted when we lift or support each other.  When we take action to share our resources and gifts, we elevate those of us who may need that special push to help them, while addressing material needs of the moment.  We can’t isolate ourselves from the worldliness of the world, but we can find the good, the right, and let those be reflected in our daily lives.  In so doing, we sow the fruits of goodness and invite others to choose the same.

It is evident that choices take us all to the crossroads of a dilemma at times. But whether or not we want to confront it is a tough call itself.  We must choose … at all cost.  When and if we do not, others inflict upon us their choices.  Choose, and let your choice count! 

Stream of consciousness(1)

Blog27:

                 Early morning:  Alacrity, what does that mean?  And bevy – how did that talk show anchor use that word?   Look it up now?  No, I’ll do it later.

“Rape is rape!  There’s no legitimate or illegitimate rape.  Only an idiot thinks otherwise.  Missouri Congressman Todd Akin should pack up his bags, shred his credentials, and resign his post.  I can’t fathom his claim, “Women - at time of rape have biological chemicals that are unleashed to prevent a pregnancy.”  He should go back to basic school for Biology 101.  Disgusting thought; the nerve …
Brush it off for now.  What’ could I do in the little time I have this minute?  May be the laundry should run while I’m at work.  When I come home, they could all dry while Mickey and I enjoy dinner.  Dinner- what must Mickey be cooking up in his head this time?  Spinach salad, Curry and French bread were really scrumptious last night!  Yumm … Back to that thought of laundry … what about pressing the freshly laundered ones; tonight, possibly? Tackling a two-week wash almost broke my back last Saturday!  I should not do something like that again.  So – should I press laundry tonight or not?  Perhaps that could be simultaneously conquered while listening to Lehrer NewsHour. 

            I wonder what Chris Matthews’s Hardball news line up will be today.  Some disaster - more rebel or Alqaeda attacks on civilians in Syria?   That bloody war waging in that part of the world, when will it end?  Why couldn’t people sensibly, calmly, and diplomatically address their issues face-to-face?  Why couldn’t people get along, share space and resources?  Principles and ideologies must have forum … platform, I agree.  Dragging into conflict-filled setting the lives of innocent aged, children, men and women is just appalling and outrageous!  Why must their lives be sacrificed?  Interrupted? Why couldn’t the fanatics leave them out?  After all, they have nothing to do with political squabbles.  And what are Syria’s neighboring states doing?  Where, and what is the logical response of the community, society? 

Mid-morning:  What’s do-able today?  Curriculum maps are a must to print.  Sorting visuals for thematic units, though time consuming, could be tackled, I think.  What units do I have in file that would easily match Quarter I expectations?  Gee, there are materials to copy, laminate, file; which one first?  The walls are so bare.  Maybe I should attend to that first? It’s 11AM … Better check the Inbox.  Darn it … when is that master schedule going to come in?  Stop whining, Brain.  Patience is a virtue, remember?  Yeaah … Yeaah …

Late afternoon:  There’s grocery shopping to do:  detergent, what else?  May be I should hit a discount shop.  It just might have what exactly I’m looking for.  I just don’t want to paint that shelving I got last weekend.  Joy, a church friend, said I could find one there.  Don’t forget to pick up Calcium and Red Rice Yeast supplements!  The bad cholesterol should weaken more than ever before the next physical.  Which reminds me … begin looking for a new woman physician.  Dr. Stevenson is relocating and had sent notice a month ago.  This lower back pain is “killing” me!  End now … post later.  Get up and get going now.  It’s 4PM.  Time to quit!

Alacrity: to speed up.  Bevy: a crowd   Two new words gained today.  Good job.  Time to rest!

Ring the bells!

Blog27:

Ritualistic passages ... repeated crossing paths ... are commonly embarked upon by individuals entrusted with a purposeful mission.   Whether it was an entrepreneurial team, a business development group, a religious organization or an educational institution, the same common mantra … “Out with the old, in with the new!” appears to be the thought choice expressed in whispers – at first, followed by distinct words put together in meaningful thoughts.  If it didn’t take that course, the mantra gets expressed through a much radical, passionate voice.  Either way, a renewal takes front and center stage for all to embrace, to lift up, and to sing- for long or short haul.

In Fall, or near Fall marks the season for many North American professional learning communities to return to the workplace.  Dispersed in the summer time for rest and recreation, women and men gather back to their buildings, grand or simple, so they could once again give serious thoughts and actions to the what’s and wherewithal’s of mind shaping, engaging, growing, expanding.  Devoid of ceremonial pomp, but with high energy and hope, they get together to welcome one another and the new school year.  They pledge solidarity; they form a united front to conquer the losses and pitfalls of a previously completed academic year.   They storm each other’s brains to line up goals and objectives as well as strategies for achieving higher ends.  A few highly committed groups build a climate of trust.  Still, others explore collaborative, interdisciplinary plans.  All focus on one important mission- that of leading young minds entrusted in educators’ care and pruning, molding.  Hopes are high that learners will take many critical thinking paths; young minds will develop curiosity in problem solving, applying skills, connecting learning and service, even pursuing global connections or aspiring to successfully go beyond the limitations or misses of a previous endeavor. 

“Out with the old, and in with the new,” – new ideas, new attitudes, new efforts of collaboration, respect, responsibility.  There could not be ‘stand-alone stances’, no ‘I don’t care about you or something’ gestures, no claims of ‘I’m better than you are’ or ‘I don’t care if you sink while I swim’ mindsets.  The success of all learners, all doers, and all creators, co-creators in an academia begins to load up and to rest on the shoulders of everyone with a stake in fulfilling ‘the mission’ identified for every thinking, doing, and conflict-resolving learner on any given frame of time.  There appears to solidify a common focus that the success of an enterprise, an initiative, comes to be rewarded only when everyone in the circle stands together, supports one another, and validates each other.

A mass of like-minded individuals begin another cycle of review-teach-learn-fail-reteach-relearn dawns.  Once more, academic bells ring 'out with the old, in with the new' - new hopes, higher dreams, realistic goals!

Generosity

Blog26:

TODAY weekend show highlighted a story of a twenty two year-old woman who was born with a rare illness … one that attacks, weakens, and finally debilitates body organs.  The most recent casualty in her lived-long fragile life was her kidneys.  In five years they will need to be replaced to keep death away, her doctors told.  ‘Lucky’ for her, modern medicine would allow transplantation of said very sick kidneys should there be a matching organ/kidney donor.  As soon as this was pronounced, she began a plea for one through the Facebook social media.  Lo and behold, and to her surprise, a childhood friend responds, gets tested, approved, and pronounced a healthy, best possible match.  The friends reunited and underwent the surgery. As soon as the recipient and donor successfully came out of the procedure, both could not stop telling their ‘give-and-take’, ‘plea-response’ and ‘death-life’ journeys of generosity.

Generosity … kindness … bigheartedness … what inspires and moves us to act upon it? 

For the childhood friend, who gave what she could have kept to preserve her own healthy life, it was an enormous risk embarked upon.  Results, you ask?  Not only did that act of charity put everyone who knew her in awe, but it also allowed someone, a friend, to have another leash on life.  Best of all that came out of it, nothing more was expected back in return.  Simply that – a gift.

We truly never know what links vicariously or personally experienced stories might spark.  The feature story did immensely touch me, and reminded me of a few people in my own life – one marching after another in the privacy of my mind’s window,  who gave unconditionally of themselves so that I might keep going … get somewhere in life, and perhaps, just perhaps,  return such kindness bestowed willingly to me.

Most vivid in my mind’s eye is the sacrifice of my Lola Atang in keeping me and two brothers, (what could I recall), from an abandonment of some sort.  It wasn’t very clear to me how or why the situation came to its course.  What was clear was there we were … on our own.  Somehow, we survived from day to day.  In one instance, we did find ourselves in a dark, dank, and marginal, though secure room with a very ‘small window to the world’ from where I saw life unfold.  From there, I remember having been surrounded by both familiar and strange people keeping us afloat.  I stayed in that room by myself sometimes.  It allowed my young impregnable mind to aimlessly and frequently wonder about life in general and in specifics.  One other ‘survival habitat’ that Lola Atang found for us was an open ground … open to weather elements, cold nights, in a  papag, a native slat bed, underneath one’s home.  It was opened up to us by some generous soul she knew, and who gave us permission to use for I couldn’t recall, how many months.  To a child, everything was an adventure; that was the mindset I took, anyway.  That was that, no questions needed to be asked.  But even more than the frequent habitat change, I wondered silently as well then, how Lola Atang navigated the city-at-risk, and convinced other kindhearted souls and generous benefactors to share with us sustaining nourishment, medicine, and other life basics.  There’s more to tell, but this suffices for now.

I’d never know the stark and the true reasoning for the many incidents in my young life, for sure.  What I do know is that generosity impacted life.  The generosity of those unsung souls, one like Lola Atang, imprinted goodness in me about people I knew and didn’t know.  Such seems to be the wonderful wheel of giving and receiving, I reckon.  We do kind acts, we sympathize, we thoughtfully think and act, we help someone, we reflect compassion in our lives day to day, if and when an opportunity finds us to respond on any given day and time. 

          Generosity is a powerful outpouring of the heart molded richly in love for others – someone we may or may not know.  While we can’t truly understand the force that moves it to pour out, we can’t imagine any other acts of love like it - a gift that keeps on giving and rewarding!

Sonnet1-Aging

Blog25:

Feeling disgrace with Aging, fragile physique

Despair I allow to conquer within quick

Mercilessly, I scream … grumble, “Why me?”

To the mirror I moan, “How did this come to be?”

Wondering … wishing … youth could stay a few years more

And like her, grant me supple bosoms sought for

Wanting, fancying someone else’s finer build

Disgruntled I become with grace of life gifted

Yet in these grievous sensitivities uncontrollably wallowing

My unkind self-pity suddenly rushes out in thought of you

And like a fresh morning always coming, breaking

From Lord of Lords whose breath breathes life’s graces

For your pure, abiding love enveloping me every twinkling

I deride to be nothing more but myself graciously Aging.