One Little Word 2017: Anyway

Tuesdays at Two Writing Teachers!

Wow.
2016.
What an absolute doozy of a year!

Personally, professionally, as a citizen of the U.S. and a person in the world... just wow.

STRONG certainly turned out to be a darn good word for 2016, and it did its job well, pushing me to be better while also taking care of myself better.

And I want to keep that up. Keep pushing myself, like I always have, but in a way that's good for me, which is the newer part.

Unfortunately, as 2016 showed us all, the world can pack some pretty big punches, no matter how hard you work to make your very best impact on your very small corner of it.

So this fall, when I ran across a version of the "Paradoxical Commandments" on social media, widely attributed to Mother Teresa but apparently actually written by Kent Keith and used by Mother Teresa, I knew what my word for 2017 would be:

ANYWAY. 

As I thought more about my word, I remembered loving a song called "Anyway", and when I went to look it up, I learned that Keith's poem was actually one of Martina McBride's inspirations for the lyrics, so my OLW inspirations are tied together perfectly!

At first, I was going to scatter words from each line of the poem around my word in this year's image, but I didn't want it to be too cluttered, and I wanted to add "strong", so I decided to make it more my own:

created on my iPad with Drawing Desk and FontCandy+
I chose sunrise colors this year, for hope and rebirth.
Like the past several years, this will be my computer wallpaper at school.

So in 2017, I will do my very best to brighten every piece of the world I can reach, even especially in the midst of so much darkness.

I will be kind, even especially when others are not.
I will be joyful, even especially when it's difficult to find joy.
I will be strong, even especially when I'm worn out.
I will be brave, even especially when I'm scared.
I will give my best, even especially when it seems to not be enough.
I will forgive those who act hurtfully, even especially when they act unwilling to work for healing.
I will love. Everyone. Even especially when it hurts. Even especially when they seem hard to love.

I love this word because it allows me to keep living my past words... even especially 
when it's hard. I will keep  connecting, keep  delighting, keep being  a spark, keep  loving, and keep being  strong...

anyway.

one little word 2016: strong

Tuesdays at Two Writing Teachers!

CONNECT.
DELIGHT.
SPARK.
LOVE.

4 little words.

4 years of reflection, observation, and determination.
4 years of having a simple, powerful, and positive way to keep encouraging myself to improve my life throughout the year.

In class today, my students and I read about the history of New Year's Resolutions, and we learned that January is named for Janus, the Roman god with two faces who could look backward and forward at the same time. That's exactly how I felt as I chose my word this year: I found my word by looking to the past year and the upcoming one together. 

Becoming a mom has helped me take control of my life in a way that I was never able to do before. I wondered how I'd ever do it all, when my life had always been so consumed with work. How could I ever be a good mom AND a good teacher at the same time?! But through lots of hard work, I have found that balance I could never make myself achieve... by learning to take care of myself. I've learned that the only way to be my very best self is to refuse to ignore my self-care. And magically, I'm solving that great puzzle of who I am.

I'm proud to announce my fifth "one little word", my word for 2016: STRONG! 

created on my iPad with Drawing Desk and Font Candy!
I decided to use a color scheme that would remind me of seeing the sky.

This year, my students are joining me on the "one little word" journey, and I wrote the rest of this post in front of them over the course of my classes today.

I resolve to be mentally strong. 
I will write on my blog every Tuesday. I will read at least 5 days a week. I will practice my Spanish by reading, writing, and speaking in Spanish as much as I can! I will speak in Spanish to my baby often. I will use relaxing strategies to stop worrying. For example, if I start to worry, I will go for a walk, look out the window, listen to music, or cuddle with my baby! I will focus on positive thoughts by noticing all the beauty and blessings around me and being thankful. I will continue to reflect on my life and my teaching to find the best ways to improve myself.

I resolve to be physically strong. 
I will do hard exercise (running, elliptical machine, or lifting weights) at least 2 days a week. I will also take my baby for a walk at least 1 other day a week. I will drink plenty of water. I will only drink pop 1 time a week. I will make healthier food choices with more fruits and vegetables.

I resolve to be emotionally strong. 
I will continue to love deeply by showing my family, my friends, and my students that they matter and I care about them. I will work to create special memories with my baby, my husband, and my parents. I will challenge myself to try new things, push myself out of my comfort zone, and be brave to work for what I believe in. I will forgive others and strive to understand their points of view. I will try not to take setbacks or criticism too personally, while still holding on to the insights my sensitive nature gives me. I will encourage myself and give myself the grace I give others, instead of being too hard on myself when I'm not perfect. I will give myself a break sometimes, and be ok with that.

I will be STRONG.

One Little Word 2014: Spark

Shortly after I started blogging, I chose my first "one little word": a word that would build me and others up.

Last year, I had a difficult time finding my OLW... but once I found it, it permeated my year.

This year, my OLW came to me so easily that I don't even know how I found it. However, I think it's just what I need: it keeps last year's DELIGHT alive while challenging me to move forward with new intensity.

made with DoodleBuddy, although it's not as cool as Linda's art!

Like last year's word, "SPARK" is both a noun and a verb: something I want to be and something I want to do:

from my new favorite dictionary, Vocabulary.com

I want to SPARK change in my school: to set off a culture of student-centered teaching and prepare my colleagues to meet the unique needs of my ELLs. (To do this, I'll have to nurture my own SPARKS of courage!)

I want to SPARK a love of learning in my students: to activate curiosity and trigger lifelong reading and writing habits.

In all of this, I want to shine like a SPARK: emitting rays of delight and energy while spreading positive change.

The best-laid plans

at Two Writing Teachers!

Well, yesterday I was all excited to start out the year today with an insightful, reflective slice of life that would renew my resolve to connect with my slicing friends every week!  Then, as it so often does, life got in the way.

We woke up to a cable outage. No TV, no house phone, and NO INTERNET!

We called the cable company, who confirmed it was an outage they already knew about and were working on. "Well, I'm sure it won't be out very long," we said.

We read books. We waited until lunchtime.  It was still out.

Since we'd been thinking about going to see Rise of the Guardians today anyway since it's only playing in the afternoons now at our local theaters, we went.  "Surely the cable will be back when we get back from the movies!" we agreed.

The movie was great -- an imaginative, hopeful glimpse into a world I'd dreamed of as a child. I can't wait to read the book.  (Usually I hate seeing the movie first, but that's just how it happened with this one!)  When we got home, the cable was still out.

We read some more.  We played a Wii game. We started to feel disconnected to the world.  Weren't there tweets and Facebook posts and blog articles popping up every second?  And how was I going to write my blog post?  Besides, we were missing all the college football on TV!  "It has to be back on by the time we eat dinner," we assured ourselves.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants, one that has huge TVs that displayed the Rose Bowl in glorious HD all around us.  Upon arriving home... that's right, you knew it was coming... the cable was still out.

So we played another game on the Wii, and read some more books.  "I guess I'll just have to blog tomorrow," I sighed, when suddenly...

THE
CABLE
CAME
BACK ON!!!

So, hello everyone!  Happy 2013!  This may not be the post I'd expected to write, but I'll get around to that one eventually.  Really, this is a much better picture of how life really goes:

You don't suddenly have more time in the new year.  You don't suddenly have a brand-new, clean, perfect slate to start over.  Not really.  You have all the junk and clutter and craziness that you had last year, and perhaps more!  So really, this is probably the best way to start my blogging for 2013: feeling like I had to squeeze it in, unable to find that magical writing time, climbing over obstacles to get there, but doing it anyway.  Because that's how it's going to be all year: messy and imperfect and hard.

But I'm going to do it, just like I did tonight.