When your vision fails

I came home with a fever today.  I fell into a profound sleep almost as soon as I got home.  I am tired.  No, I am exhausted.  I feel like I've done some things well this year as a teacher and in other things I'm afraid I've failed miserably.  It is easy to feel down about those things that you don't do as well as you know should be or could be done.

Reflecting on the work we have done this year, a friend reminded me how much work we have had to do preparing our teaching materials that our areas of weakness are not excusable perhaps, but certainly understandable. 

I guess I feel like my vision fails on days like today.  Hopefully it is the fever and exhaustion thinking and soon enough I will have renewed my heart for the various projects I'm pouring myself into.

Restlessness is contagious

I am a restless person.  That is so deeply ingrained in me that even when I am trying to stay somewhere, I keep looking for opportunities to go to other places. This restlessness is fed by all the people I meet who are either coming or going to places.  I am feeling particularly restless these recent days.

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About ten days ago, I received an email saying that I had a message waiting for me on facebook.  I'm on something of a facebook break which meant that I was about to ignore the message when Ariel said, "You should check it! It might be something important."  So, I went and read the message --ignoring all other facebook temptations-- and saw that it was kind of important.  

A few years ago, I lived for a few months in El Salvador.  I was blessed by an amazing family who invited me --a complete stranger-- to live with them during that time.  They became a second family for me.  How that all came about is another long story, but what is important is that one of their sons lives in Venezuela and the message I received was from him.

He asked me if I would know of a place that two friends of his -who were traveling from Argentina on their way to Alaska- would be able to stay when they arrived in Panama and if they could contact us.  We thought we could help them so, Ariel was wonderful enough to follow up with them and send them his contact information.  They sent us a message saying that they were going to be coming to Panama on a sailboat through the San Blas Islands and that they would call us when the had arrived in Panama.

Several days went by.  We assumed they were having a fabulous time in the Islands and didn't worry about them.  Finally, this week they called Ariel and told him that they had arrived and would be coming as soon as they got their van out of customs and sorted out their own entry.  So, without telling all details, they finally arrived.

Once they had eaten something they told us a bit about some of their adventures driving from Argentina through South America and then told us all about their misadventures on their sailing trip from Colombia to Panama.  As it turns out, their trip was awful and they almost died at sea without hardly a drop of water or a bite of food for almost 5 days.  It was an amazing story which I'm sure they will write on their blog when they get the chance.

So, we have enjoyed hearing their stories and even got them to play a game of Settlers of Catán with us.  They will be in Panama for a period of time, traveling, and then continuing their trip --enjoying each part of each country they go through. 

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Now, with that clarified my recent bout of restlessness is explained.

When I work alone

When I work alone, which is how I usually prefer to work, I listen to music.  I don't know if it is paradoxical that I enjoy working alone and yet I need some type of company.  I'm not sure.  Yesterday, I was at work, helping with a school event, and I was struck once again how very much I love solitude and if not being entirely alone -sharing quiet spaces in the company of just a few friends. 

Today, I am at home working alone.  When I work alone, I listen to music and the process of setting up, selecting what I am going to listen to in order to be the most productive during my work session is very important.  It can mean the difference between a productive work session and a completely fruitless one.  

So, today, I started my work session listening to my friend Wendell Kimbrough who has recently released a new album Things that Can't be Taught.  Wendell has a song called "When I Work Alone" and it speaks to me and -as I prepare to work alone- comforts my nostalgic introspective self and reminds me that I have company, many others are also working alone with me today.

Just for kicks, another great song from the album Communication:

Where Am I Wearing?

It's interesting the things that make me want to write.  We have been working on a unit of inquiry at school called "Trade and the Marketplace."  It is the kind of topic that gets me emotionally as well as mentally engaged.  The magnitude of the global trading relationships and yet, pretty much everything we use or wear was made by someone, somewhere.  Who made these things I use so indifferently?  This was a video I stumbled upon in my search for resources to share with my students, I liked it so I thought I'd share it here.

Balance

How do people keep it? 
How do people make it?
How can I achieve it?
Does it exist?