Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Work Hard and Be Kind

If I leave my students with anything, I hope it is this message:

Work Hard and Be Kind



Today, I need to take my own advice. I have found myself struggling to stay afloat in most apsects of my life. Life just gets so busy and overwhelming sometimes. Teaching, Parenting, Marriage...

I was becoming negative and frustrated. Not being the person I wanted to be, knew I could be. No one is harder on me than myself. So, rather than wallow in those feelings, I decided to do something.

Here is to a new adventure. While it may seem counterproductive to add something else to my plate, somethinge else to keep afloat, I believe it is self care. Something to use my creative brain. A change to the norm. Something fun and different. I'm excited!!

Here goes. Work Hard. Be Kind.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

The "Why" Moment

"To be an expert writing teacher, you must be a writer." I heard this piece of advice a week ago, and I thought, sure that makes sense. Sounds easy. WRONG. Starting this blog was my foray into doing just that, my own writing. 

I had this grand plan to write a deep and meaningful first post to start this blog off on the right foot. It was going to be amazing. I had written the first line over and over in my head. So, I sat down to write my earth shattering post. And...nothing. That first paragraph was truly great, but I had nothing to follow. Hello writer's block. (And WOW - this is what my students feel like!) I could feel my "perfectionism" taking over. It crept in slowly, only deleting a few characters here and there and then moved in to stay, deleting whole paragraphs at a time. This is as far as I got before my spaghetti noodle brain took over: 

...Someone once told me, "The world is not made for women." Now, before you get all worked up, know that this comment truly came from a place of love. The tone behind this message was: it really sucks that the world isn't made for women. The reality is that I see some truth behind those words, but I don't want it to be my truth. For whatever reason, this has stuck with me and I find myself trying to make the world for women. Specifically, this woman...

After this paragraph, I had to floss (I had corn on the cob for dinner), and I can't remember the last time I flossed. I daydreamed about what I would do tomorrow. I checked my social media. I read a chapter of my book. Writing. Is. Hard. I stretched. I watched my four month old sleep on the monitor. I sent a work email. I checked my social media, again. Did I mention writing is hard? 

My goal is to use this blog as a tool to improve myself as a writer, as a writing teacher, and reflect on the beautiful chaos that is life. That first "good" paragraph I wrote isn't wrong. I'm working hard to make this world what I want. So, this is it. A blog about all the things I love to do in life. A blog about the hard things in life. A blog about the many things that make me, me.