TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
Have you felt appreciated this week?
I certainly have.
I am the recipient of a group hug.
Where do I start? With the Aliens that are AUTHENTIC?
Or the power of a group hug?
Or some sort of reflection on what it is that I do for a living?
Or my thoughts about life at the moment?
Or just how blessed I am?
Or how WONDERFUL my life really is?
Or the rest of the story?
-------------------------------------
This next image is what I work over-time to project to the world:
THE SUN IS ALWAYS OUT.
My face is always smiling.
The colors are happy razzle-dazzle.
I share my over-sized heart with others
and every hair is in place. TaDAH!
After all. I get to work with children.
I am appreciated for doing so.
I get to share my unique spin on fun heavy duty learning:
singing, signing and reading along the way.
I am indeed a fortunate woman.
I get to do what I love and get better at doing it,
through the opportunity of doing it, because I love it.
Murphy has his laws. {Just sayin'.}
That's kinda profound, what I said, just above, up there.
I know that I'm easily entertained, but I think there's a kernel of karmic truth
in that thought my fingers just typed.
I may need to quote myself.
Yes. Yes, I do need to quote myself:
The power of having a blog?
You can quote yourself if you want!
Truth be told. If you could take an internal photo of me right now?
It would look more like this.
There is no sun in sight.
Things look a bit dark, in fact.
And I forgot my shoes!
Don't get me started about my hair.
Looks like a great empty spot inside, where my heart used to be.
Many of you know that we are in a 'train-wreck' portion of life.
No. We were not on a train-that-wrecked.
More metaphorical than passenger-steel-bullet crashing.
Just seems that much of what we thought to be true was not.
But the show must go on!
Literally.
*We can talk later as to the wisdom of delivering the keynote on Saturday for the Space Coast in central Florida and a school visit starting Tuesday morning in Detroit, with a drive in between to connect the dots, that also allowed for family hugs, because the state of Georgia is between the two.
A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!
So I put one foot in front of the other and search for my smile....
And attempt to get my buttons lined up.
I am not above safety pins and duct tape: take as needed!
Fake it till you make it.... and all of that jazz.
I am beyond blessed.
I get to look into the eyes of purity.
I get to hear the uncensored thoughts of four year olds.
Yesterday I got to spend my day with about 222 preschoolers.
It may have seemed like 7 times that many, but I asked.
I'm sure I was told less that 250.
Oh that I could bottle their responsiveness.
Their delight. Their eagerness.
Instead I just let them power me.
I let their zest power me for the moment.
Moment by moment.
I let their laughter, their belly laughs
and their incredulity of delight -- fill me up.
That's why I know it was Teacher Appreciation Day-week-month.
They gave me the gift of their whole-hearted JOY:
WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED!
Most of the cherubs sitting on that rug had no idea
that I have too many tabs open in my brain.
I found it very interesting that one of the insightful sweeties was able to document exactly what I see in the mirror.
As you can see, my heart has undergone a rebuild.
This is not my first metaphorical train-wreck.
I know at the top of my brain that I am a star.
And as I focus on that star power,
I can continue to contribute.
That is the power of authenticity.
That is the power of open-ended materials.
Even those that are four can convey the truth as they know it.
I have a guy that stands beside me.
He delivers me to places where I can contribute.
His buttons are in a row and his two hairs are combed.
We make an awesome team!
Right now, he is keeping us moving forward.
His character and steadfast devotion has stood the test of two decades plus.
Train wrecks or Hawaiian bucket list adventure?
You can count on him. He delivers. He's a man of his word.
What you see is what you get.
He goes to the wall and back for family.
Yes. That is what children want.
They want the adults in their lives to be honest and trust worthy.
To tell the truth and then deliver the goods.
To walk the talk.
I'll always remember Dr. Pam Schiller
say to her crowded keynote audience,
"TRUST IS JOB ONE."
It is our first responsibility to be trustworthy.
Children need our steadfast honesty and consistency.
They can spot incongruity a mile away.
The day after "May-the-fourth-be-with-you"
is Teacher Appreciation Day.
I will never take the hug of a child for granted.
It amazes me to no end that children will risk the penalties of getting out of line,
to rush over and give me a parting hug.
You can almost see the hug bubbling up inside of them.
Do I or don't I?
Then the little feet come rushing.
Once the Genie is out of the bottle,
it is not a very far leap to a full on, whole hearted GROUP hug.
Having a wall to support the crowd is a good thing.
And just how does an entire BUILDING of EXCELLENCE emerge?
An entire program?
A staff willing to go the extra mile?
Teachers well versed in best practice --
with evidence on every bulletin board of open ended process Art?
It is NOT by accident.
Good places emerge from GOOD people.
Great places emerge under the leadership of GREAT people.
I would like to publicly profess my appreciation to this rainbow-maker.
Amy has opened her heart and her home to the two of us vagabonds.
She has baked us an apple pie in a paper bag.
She has crafted chicken noodle soup to replenish and nourish.
She has listened and she has hugged.
This is NOT our first rodeo together.
We think it is our fourth.
There's something to be said for a port in the storm.
A port in the storm that bakes and hugs?
PRICELESS!
* I have written about Authentic Art on more than one occasion. This is the lengthy culmination of several earlier articles.
