Category: Living Audaciously

Finally, I’m on vacation. Yesterday was exhausting. There are people in the world who think teachers are babysitters. Such false thinking. Too many activities and issues this past week. For the sake of everyone, nothing will be mentioned except to say that it was emotionally and physically taxing for some people more than others.

I didn’t want to give my students a full day off because that’s not my style but I didn’t want to lose the festive spirit of the holiday. I have many students who need to be reminded of the reason for the season. Instead, I offered the students extra credit if they made their own version of the 12 Days of Christmas. This would cover standards in poetry and creative writing. It came out really well.

I also gave them time to work on childhood development books that might be entered into this year’s Youth Fair competition. Even though it is due the Wednesday after we return from winter break, I wanted to give them time to work on it in class. That also came out rather well. Students had an opportunity to work on two activities to boost their academic grade.

The best part was after school. Not because it was the end of the work day, but because I had several surprise visits from former students. I enjoyed briefly catching up with them. It’s a great feeling as an educator to see the students move on in a positive direction.

As for my co workers, this holiday season wasn’t so bad. I think for it was the realization that I had to change my mindset with them. Luckily for me, I have a co worker who helped me see what I couldn’t see because I was trying too hard to be a “team player” when it’s not always in me. I’m glad it’s not always in her either!

I have a huge issue with hypocrisy. I can’t handle it on any level. It’s so irritating that I can get a headache from even seeing it a little bit. But I realized that some people don’t call it hypocrisy. They call it “getting along” or they say it’s because “it’s the right thing to do.” I guess that’s where things go awry with me. I don’t do “the right thing” or do something to “just get along” if it doesn’t agree with my moral compass.

I just don’t like being fake. It doesn’t sit well with me.

So this school year, I participated in what I enjoyed and quietly escaped anything that would seem fake in my life. It’s not easy to keep that balance but it helps keep the spirit of the season.

When I take care of me first, I find I have enough energy to care for others. This holiday season I haven’t finished my gift giving but this year I am placing myself on the list too.

Is blogging dead? I have no idea. I’m starting to realize that I don’t care either. I love writing and I love reading people who write interesting pieces on their blogs. It’s not an old age situation. It’s simply a personal opinion.

I find it fascinating that people are jumping to do podcasts. But aren’t podcasts really the old fashioned form of talk radio? It was interesting back then right? Now we cleaned it up, targeted all types of niches and labeled it podcasting because it’s not on the radio.

I love it!

I love that we recreate something that has already been created but tweak it up for the next generation to feel that it is a new and special item.

In 40 days, I will be 50 years old. Some of my relatives think I’m making too much of a big deal out of it. But reality is that I am not making enough of a big deal. For AudacityMagazine.com, I’ve written about growing up with death and my own personal battles to stay healthy. I think my family doesn’t want me to make a big deal about these things because then it makes them nervous about my mortality. But c’est la vie because I love celebrating my birthday for that exact reason. Because I made it another year!

I wanted to monetize this site but now I want this to be a public space for me to discuss personal thoughts, musings, projects, and anything else.

Photos will happen later on. For now, let me get back into the area that I love and have always loved. Writing and the power it has over our thoughts, actions, and beliefs.

If you are into politics, you will enjoy some of my future posts because just when you think you have me figured out, you find out you really don’t. It’s not even about tricking you. It’s about me always thinking how others see things.

Everything will still be rated PG because I don’t think it’s necessary for me and others to resort to vulgarity unless as a last resort. But that’s usually in real life. I think when we write, we can find other words to express ourselves that don’t rhyme with duck, bit, lap or switch.

Get comfy. This post will be lengthy but it’s going to feel so good to finally breathe again. It’s been almost six months since my last post. I’ve been on a writing hiatus and it has taken a toll on me. But why did I stop? And why did I start up again?

In fifteen days, I will celebrate another birthday. I can’t wait! Every birthday is a victory.  Continue reading “Breathe Again”

NaBloPoMo Challenge

I’m doing the NaBloPoMo challenge. That’s where I write a blog post every day in November.

I’ve done this before but didn’t always successfully complete all thirty days. This might be the year! Who knows?

I think it’s like a boxing match and I’m Rocky Balboa.

I feel pretty confident this year because I have some pretty cool coaches in my corner. Continue reading “NaBloPoMo: The Final Match”