Thursday, February 13, 2014

Lesson #22:

Lesson #22: Choose to give:

My classroom is desperate to conclude our project through DonorsChoose.org. We are about $500 short and have hit a wall in donations! I'm trying to spread the word as best I can so here goes, blogosphere:

If you can donate any amount, we would be oh so grateful! You will also receive a handmade thank you card from our class as well as a picture. :-) Click here to donate and THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

http://www.donorschoose.org/andreaseider



Friday, January 24, 2014

Lesson # 21:

Lesson #21: Nurture Your Passion


I have jugglers in my brain. Juggling multiple batons and adding more constantly, and then more jugglers keep coming to see if they can juggle amongst the hundreds already there and for some reason the Circus Master (that would be me) keeps allowing this to happen.

"Sure! We could ALWAYS use more!!" says I, whilst nervously trying to maintain the jugglers already in progress. Batons keep falling and rolling on the ground and I narrowly escape tripping over several, as I run around scrambling up juggling apparati, meanwhile keeping an air of grace and dignity. And a smile. And jugglers keep chasing after rolling batons as new jugglers come to join the party all excited and fresh and ambitious, showing off their new craze...fire juggling! And at a certain point I think: This can't go on forever.

This is an analogy of how my brain feels. Pretty darn crazy.

I wish I had a picture to inset here of a view of my brain and all its craziness.

Wait...I do...

My Brain. On Jugglers. Note the multiple bottles of wine in the background...a necessity.
Here's a breakdown of that analogy:

The jugglers are the many thoughts that enter my head and decide to set up camp there for a while. For example, I've recently been entertaining the idea of a summer job, one that would also nurture a passion of mine, and that is photography. So, I would like to try my hand at this hobby professionally...now enters the juggler. He has a baton for each class I should be taking, another for each equipment I need to purchase to be "professional", another for books I need to read, another for contacts I need to make, another for time I need to set aside, another for money I need to save to get this going, another for artistic inspiration...and so on and so on. You probably get my drift. That's just one juggler. Some people have a couple of these going on simultaneously. Or maybe more. I don't know. All I know is that I have too many of these. Too. Many.

I literally have spent hours working towards goals such as:
1.Becoming a better photographer (ok, that one is not a silly one),
2.becoming a professional public speaker of some sorts (I was inspired last summer by my ability to give a speech at a wedding and not feel nervous. I think know it was the shots beforehand. But still, I thought of myself for the next few weeks as the next great motivational orator of America),
3.becoming a writer,
4.becoming a songwriter,
5.becoming a mosaic artist,
6.becoming a YouTube sensation: "Girl Playing Ukelele AWESOME!",
7.becoming a professional Ukelele player,
8.becoming a DJ (I'm dead serious about this...I think I can make great mixes. I always get down to my mixes. Plus, I've done some hard core Dj sessions in Best Buy sampling their equipment. I think I've got this one.)
9. opening up my own private school that is Spanish Immersion Montessori based.
10. Traveling the world and writing a blog about it. And directing a vlog about it. And sending vlog to a network and then having them pick it up to start a tv show.
11. Traveling the world to teach English.
12. Traveling the world on photo expeditions.
13. Running a marathon.
14. Joining a dance troupe (for 30-somethings...)
15. Opening up a dance studio
16. Teaching yoga
17. Getting my Phd and becoming a professor of early childhood education

This is not a list of pipe dreams folks. I truly have spent time on each of these goals (jugglers) and I keep adding more for some reason. Oh yeah, and I already have a profession. That of being a Teacher. And that takes up the most time of all.




So...what's a girl to do with all these thoughts running around?

I guess one remedy would be to write them all out. I mean, amongst all these lofty life goals I have, I also have deep, emotive thoughts trudging through it all simultaneously (these are the Circus Elephants). And each ti