Monthly Archives: March 2020

Distance

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Distance   SOL20 DAY 20

 

Distance…physical.  

 

NECESSARY.

 

Closeness…love and connection. 

 

IMPERATIVE! 

 

Our love and connection…

 

MUST.  NOT.  BE.

 

quarantined.

 

Laughter in the Rain

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SOL20 Day 19

The rain we’ve been experiencing – and by rain I refer to this unprecented time in our lives right now – has been paused a few times in the past 24 hours. One pause came in the form of laughter.  Last night around 10:30ish, thanks to Jimmy Fallon, his sweet little family and his amazing guest, the incredibly talented, Lin-Manuel Miranda, laughter made its way to me and soothed my soul.  I happened to be the only one in the room at the time and my laughter could be heard all over our house. It felt so good and I laughed and smiled through his entire little show.

So…during these unsure, uncharted days…laugh.  Laugh on your own, laugh with your kids, laugh with your loved one, laugh with your friends, watch funny cat videos and laugh. Your heart and your soul will thank you for it. 

If you want to check out Jimmy Fallon and his “Tonight Show – Home Edition”, check out this link:

Sending much ♥️ from Texas! 

Lost

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“Lost”                 SOLC20 Day 18

Today the word “lost” has been at the forefront of my mind.  These past few days I feel like I’ve done a lot of “birdwalking”, meandering around from one thing to the next-wanting, trying, needing to find purpose and trying to be productive during my days at home.  

Lost…

I’ve been getting up, dressed and ready to go (but not going anywhere except from one room to another).  

Lost…

I have been home with my 3 dogs while my husband has been working at his office still. We are in a holding position with what will be needed when online instruction begins. I’ve been diving into books, both professional and for entertainment, checking on family and friends, checking in with my 25-year old daughter and worrying about many things.  In my current position, I don’t have my own class of students; I worry about our teachers as I know they’re thinking of their students and missing them like crazy.   

Worry is not my purpose…how can I help? how can I serve?

Lost…

I considered a daily schedule for myself (where worrying about what’s next is not on the schedule as much as it has been) and posting up in the kitchen like many parents have been doing with their kiddos.  I brought lots of work home but the work was for our TCRWP “test prep” units and we are no longer having a state test. The work isn’t this at this time.   

Lost…

And in the midst of writing this post tonight, a twitter chat provided some clarity.  I will still check on my parents, my daughter, my friends and I feel the purpose in that. The purpose for my professional work is my biggest concern.  The chat reminded me that we are “in this together”, we are a community of readers, writers, learners and distances or “holding patterns” don’t need to pause that work. Learning will look different but I do believe it will be learning that brings us closer together as a school community, a professional learning community and reading and writing community. The learning we discussed tonight can fuel ideas once we have a more defined course, an adjusted flight plan.  Thank you to our TCRWP community!

I feel like these words from J.R. Tolkien are an appropriate ending to my post:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

 

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken

The crownless again shall be king.

 

– J.R. Tolkien

 

Can you see the beautiful?

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Can you see what’s beautiful? 

My thoughts today are inspired by author Matt de la Pena. Matt wrote a letter to students today who are at home with family just like him.  Matt’s words were for our students but they resonated with me. 

Matt shared a quote from his book,  Last Stop on Market Street, “Sometimes when you’re surrounded by dirt, you’re a better witness for what’s beautiful.” 

Sometimes in the darkest, most chaotic times in life is when we see true beauty. Our feeds are flooded with the latest stats, the lack of…, the climbing rate of …, the falling of the numbers; however, in its midst I’m witnessing so much beauty.  Not aesthetic beauty, the beauty of kindness, connection (virtually), togetherness (from a safe distance of 6 feet 😊), collaboration (of thousands), generosity (from thousands) and the list could on. 

A few of the beautiful things I’ve witnessed from the comfort of my home these past few days…

The list could go on and on…

As we are surrounded by the “dirt” of these unprecedented days, I hope you stop to notice and witness the beauty that is all around us.  

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of  the darkness”.   

      – Desmond Tutu