words

my summer reading list

summer + reading = summer reading lists popping up everywhere.

growing up i read way more books than i read now. and i am okay with not being as well-read as others. love the piece on realdelia called why summer reading lists burn me out.

my attention span is apparently shorter than i care to admit to, and i feel like i can’t afford the time to sit and read for hours on end. while i don’t read a lot of books (novels in particular), i am reader nonetheless. the newspaper, magazines, blog posts, labels, short non-fiction books, and random environmental print are more my speed. i won’t link to my goodreads account because it is so pitiful looking. i would love to read all the popular books on the new york times bestsellers list, but i just don’t have it in me.

and i won’t speak authoritatively on books i’ve never read. have i read outliers? have a sample chapter on my kindle, but no – i haven’t read it. battle hymn of the tiger mother? nope. and the list goes on.

i am good at required reading. in college i had no problem doing all the required reading. i did really well in american lit. i am a really good reader, just don’t have it in me to sit and read for long periods of time…unless i am going to be graded! ;)

my friend from new york sends me books to read. currently i have one outstanding unfinished book with him. he sent me the kindle version of the know-it-all and this was quite some time ago. the other day i turned on my kindle to read the book and it was all the way at the end of the book, and this is so not the case. will have to find my real spot and eventually finish the book.

the unfinished book is typical for me. i have a handful of those on my bookshelf. oh how i wish to finish twyla tharp’s the creative habit. lovely book so far.

so due to my attention deficit disorder when it comes to books i’ve made my summer reading list manageable. it includes one book. the bell jar by sylvia plath.

the bell jar - my summer reading list

while visiting my friend jamie last month she gave the book to me. she said it was her favorite book, so much so that she has spare copies laying around. i was hesitant about taking the book, save it for someone who will actually read it. but i’ve decided to go for it, finish what i start, and so if i don’t completely read any other book this summer i am determined to read the bell jar by sylvia plath.

(next up is an attempt to read the complete works of jane austen.)

one last poem

ending national poetry month with a poem by langston hughes.
doesn’t get
much
better
than
him.

“life is fine”

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn’t,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn’t a-been so cold
I might’ve sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn’t a-been so high
I might’ve jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry–
I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

i dwell in possibility

I dwell in Possibility —
A fairer House than Prose —
More numerous of Windows —
Superior — for Doors —

Of Chambers as the Cedars —
Impregnable of Eye —
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky —

Of Visitors — the fairest —
For Occupation — This —
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise —

- Emily Dickinson

another great poem for national poetry month!

tomorrow is earth day. EXCITED about this. i bought seeds for my students. last year i did the same thing and got reports on sprouts from my students. i hope the seeds i bought grow for them this year, i bought them cheap at target. last year i spent a small fortune on seeds. i am going to try to use less paper tomorrow in the classroom.

but ay, it is going to be a busy weekend! i have a photo shoot scheduled friday afternoon and a wedding on saturday afternoon. why can’t i just sit back and relax and do nothing? sigh. i just don’t have it in me.

work smarter not harder.
have a blessed friday!

we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends. – Shel Silverstein

the above stanza is from the poem “where the sidewalk ends” by shel silverstein. it’s national poetry month and i haven’t shared poems like i wanted to this month. i love the line where he says the children know, and they really do. they hold the secrets. it’s no longer just a sidewalk but something magical.

i work with children as a kindergarten teacher, and i often have to use my drawing skills. the other day i had to draw the life cycle of an oak tree. i tell my kids that i am not an artist, and one of my students tell me, “yes, yes you are. you are an artist”. i go on to draw an acorn and i say, “umm, so i guess here is the acorn.” and i am apologetic about it, and with the straightest face she says, “yes, it’s an acorn.” very mater of fact, end of discussion. every negative thing i was saying about my drawing she was negating it with something positive. it was so funny, but it got me thinking of how so many times we speak negative things over our lives and sometimes we just need someone to tell us otherwise.

i am going to pay it forward…

yes, you are worthy. yes, you can do it. really. don’t give up on whatever you are working towards. as a human your capabilities are mind blowing. you are marvelously made!

april

yay for friday.
yay for april because april is national poetry month!

there are words, words, words. and then…a little something called poems. for the past few years i’ve been enjoying knopf’s poem a day delivered directly to my inbox during the month of april. amazing works, and then every now and then there are gorgeous broadsides of the poems. worth subscribing to, it is something to look forward to every april.

ever unfolding, ever expanding, ever adventurous and torturous, but never done

Alanis Morissette – Incomplete (live in Hamburg – Showcase)

One day I’ll find relief
I’ll be arrived and I’ll be a friend to my friends who know how to be friends

One day I’ll be at peace
I’ll be enlightened and I’ll be married with children and maybe adopt

One day I will be healed
I will gather my wounds forge the end of tragic comedy

I have been running so sweaty my whole life
Urgent for a finish line
And I have been missing the rapture this whole time
Of being forever Incomplete

One day, my mind will retreat, and I’ll know god and I’ll be constantly one with her night dusk and day
One day I’ll be secure, like the women I see on their 30th anniversaries

I have been running so sweaty my whole life
Urgent for a finish line
And I have been missing the rapture this whole time

Ever unfolding
Ever expanding
Ever adventurous and torturous
But never done

One day, I will speak freely
I’ll be less afraid
And measured outside of my poems and lyrics and art
One day I will be faith-filled
I’ll be trusting and spacious authentic and grounded and whole

I have been running so sweaty my whole life
Urgent for a finish line
And I have been missing the rapture this whole time
Of being forever incomplete

yesterday, today and tomorrow


via weheartit

i have a problem living in the moment. a million thoughts about the future often run through my mind, goals, 5 year plans, plan b’s, and the list goes on. and i struggle a little with letting go of the past, chances i didn’t take, etc. but mainly it’s the future i dwell on. bypassing the moment for some future possibility. the line “it is not the experience of today that drives people mad” is so true.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

There are two days in every week we should not worry about, two days that should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.

Yesterday has passed, forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. Nor can we erase a single word we’ve said – yesterday is gone.

The other day we shouldn’t worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities,
Its burdens, its large promise and poor performance.

Tomorrow is beyond our control.

Tomorrow’s sun will rise either in splendour or behind a mask of clouds but it will rise. And until it does,we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This leaves only one day – today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when we add the burdens of yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of today that drives people mad – it is the remorse of bitterness for something that happened yesterday, and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, live one day at a time!

- Unknown

it’s okay to be alone as long as you are free

that quote is from the late rich mullins. it’s actually a song lyric, and when i was younger it really made me okay with being alone. i consider myself a loner, and i felt like it was perfectly fine if i felt free inside my soul. i am not anti-social, but i am not always needing to be around people. i grew up in a family of 8. and i often went off and did my own thing, writing, singing, reading, and dreaming about my future.

some people are afraid of being alone, and don’t know how to be alone. this beautiful video makes you want to be alone. it’s awesome. and if you rarely ever want to hang out by yourself, then perhaps there are some things that you are afraid to discover about yourself.

How to be Alone, by Tanya Davis

a poem to help you get out of your comfort zone


{via weheartit.com}

a friend sent this to me this morning. i’ve always been afraid of the comfort zone, terrible things happen there. if you’re coasting through life, remember that you’re not going up but down.

MY COMFORT ZONE
By Author Unknown
I used to have a comfort zone where I knew I wouldn’t fail.
The same four walls and busywork were really more like jail.
I longed so much to do the things I’d never done before,
But stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.
I said it didn’t matter that I wasn’t doing much.
I said I didn’t care for things like commission checks and such.
I claimed to be so busy with the things inside the zone,
But deep inside I longed for something special of my own.
I couldn’t let my life go by just watching others win.
I held my breath; I stepped outside and let the change begin.
I took a step and with new strength I’d never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone goodbye and closed and locked the door.
If you’re in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were at one time filled with doubt.
A step or two and words of praise can make your dreams come true.
Reach for your future with a smile; success is there for you!

a prayer

“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I know my sin deserves to be punished. I believe Christ died for me and rose from the grave. I trust Jesus Christ alone as my Savior Thank You for the forgiveness and everlasting life I now have. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

a student shared this prayer with me today, and she claimed it as her own. i looked it up online and found it.

dear God please forgive her for lying to her teacher!
haha.

a reading list

this is a reading list from one of my pages from 2004, a long time ago…

  • Conan O’Brian’s Commencement Speech at Harvard

  • Wilde Geese by Mary Oliver
  • Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith *this is my favorite poem!
  • OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! by Dr. Seuss *this is my favorite book!
  • Wear Sunscreen Article
    (hear the song, or read about the sunscreen song.)

  • Anne Lamott: Word by Word, and more Anne Lamott from salon.com
  • Chevrolet Tahoe ‘Poem (Nobody Knows It But Me)’
  • First They Came for the Jews
  • 6 billion others

    this books is well worth reading. i am fascinated by other people in other countries. worlds away from my own. the order of things in far away lands. this book is well done with glimpses into the lives of others. some of the stories are life changing. the portraits are lovely. the book is humanity wrapped in a little book.

    6billionothers.org (yann arthus-bertrand, editor/photographer)