telling stories

Today, my brothers and I headed over to the American Art Gallery and saw the new Norman Rockwell exhibit.  The exhibit is called, Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. 

I love Norman Rockwell probably just as much as the next person.  His paintings are warm and personal.  You feel like you could and would like to know most of the people in his paintings.  He gives you a sense that things are well or that they will turn out well. 

It was interesting to look at the collections from the perspective of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg since they are such successful film directors.  The emphasized that one of the things that they love about Norman Rockwell's paintings that he tells a story in one frame.  He captures details, emotions, and even action in a single picture.  

I love that idea and as I think about storytelling and wanting to be a better storyteller myself, there is a lot to learn from the idea of storytelling being like taking or painting a picture.  The writing of the story requires adding all of those details, the emotions, the movements, and the colors that make you feel like you know those characters or you have been in that place.  

I'd love to be as good of a storyteller as Norman Rockwell.

Apprentice: learner, prentice, works for an expert to learn a trade

I have a lot of things rushing through my head right now. I’m tired. Being a teacher is hard. Being an apprentice is not as hard but, it’s still hard. I am being convinced, more and more, without a doubt teaching makes a difference. Teaching is probably one of the jobs that make the biggest difference in people’s lives. It may also be one of the most difficult jobs out there.

My education was so random and varied I don’t think I realized until the past couple of years that teaching is what I have been wanting to do all this time. I have wanted to be involved in helping develop stronger communities and giving people the opportunity and reasons to dream and create. All of that is hopelessly idealistic and I intend to stick to it. What it looks like in reality is much less lovely and much more incredible. The obstacles are bigger than you could imagine and the rewards are much more subtle --students learning that they like to eat vegetables, parents getting their students to the doctor, and other non-“standard based” accomplishments.

I have been working with such dedicated and excellent teachers. I admire them so much. I feel so honored and inspired working with them. Our students are actually reaching their “grade level” standards. I am exhausted but, I intend to learn all that I can so that I will also one day be as good of a teacher as the ones I’m working with right now. Their unwavering dedication to children and their learning is incredible, patience, so much patience, work, so much work, and commitment. It’s fantastic. It’s hard.

I left work feeling so disappointed. How are we supposed to teach children whose parents are caught up in their own emotional messes? If they are not nurturing their children and giving them safe homes with relationships that are secure? Some of our children are so distracted by their relational poverty that they have a very, very hard time learning. It’s difficult, but it’s still so important what we do, in spite of all the odds being against them and us, they are STILL learning. It’s hard but, it’s unbelievably rewarding.

Fear & Courage

There is no way I could have possibly talked about this a month or so ago but, I was mugged/attacked on my street in November and it has changed me in significant ways, some that I'm not yet clear on how to articulate.

Tonight, I re-told the story to Tommy and I have to say that telling what happened has a weird effect on me. My heart starts beating very quickly, my mind gets a little blurry as what happened rushes through my mind. I've tried to be willing to talk about it --people tell me that it will help me keep it in perspective-- and I'm thankful that I don't dream about it anymore but, it was scary. It was one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me.

The thing that is hard is that it happened so close to where I live. At night, my neighborhood that I love during the day, becomes the exact location of my scariest memory. My heart beats quickly, I become nervous and glance over my shoulder fearfully at the people around me. Footsteps are a source of anxiety and anyone wearing a hood that partially covers their face scares me.

I don't know entirely how it has changed me but, I know that it has definitely caused me to act differently and even approach my friends differently. I ask for help not because I want to but because I need to because if I don't I'll be paralyzed by fear. I'm regaining a bit of confidence but, I am not the same person that I was and that might be a good thing. In the mean time, I realize how much I need people and maybe the fact that I'm growing more willing to let people know that I need them is also a good thing. There is a type of courage required to let people know that you need them.

Resurrection

I live my life very intensely. I have always known this but sometimes it is made more clear to me than others. One thing that I've learned about myself in the past year is that there is a type of darkness to living life so intensely.

What I mean is that I am usually either dead or alive. I feel like I die and am resurrected on a regular basis. I live life with a shadow hanging over me or at least it is near me most of the time. Most of the time, I ignore it and live enjoying all the absolutely wonderful things about life.

Sometimes, however, the shadow is able to swallow me and I die. Really. I die. I am not alive during that time. I am dead, intensely dead. Then, something miraculous happens and I am resurrected. It is like the sign of the greater resurrection, it will happen one day and last forever. I look forward to that shadow being cast away forever.

I was just thinking about this because this week I feel alive, intensely alive and it's good. Sometimes I let myself dread the shadow but, mostly I love that I get to live.

Compliments from Strangers

The other day I got complimented on my posture by a stranger, that was strange. Compliments from strangers or new acquaintances are an interesting thing, because they are the moments when you have the honest opinion of someone who's just met you. Sometimes, they say, those first impressions are more accurate than the perspective that people have that have known you for a very long time.

I've received two interesting compliments in the past couple of days. One was the best compliment ever. I had been chatting with one of my co-workers and she asked me if I liked the show "This American Life" and I said, "YES, of course!!! I LOVE This American Life." She went on to tell me about the last show that she had listened to and THEN she told me, "I thought about it because as you were talking to me I though that your style of story-telling is very much like the one on This American Life, you could be a story-teller on This American Life".

That was the best compliment ever. I would LOVE to be a story-teller on This American Life. That would be incredible. The other compliment that I received was that I have "a literature student vibe". I often have wondered why I didn't study literature and day dream about studying literature and being a literature professor. So, today, when my other co-worker said that to me, I felt really happy and thought that maybe it's true and I shouldn't give up on that idea.

that was random

So, last night I went to dinner with some friends. I was sitting next to someone I had never met before so, we just chatted randomly for a while about where we're from, places we've traveled, languages we're interested in, etc.

During dinner we ended up talking about homelessness and I started telling him how I often find myself talking to homeless people that I pass by every day. I told him that I talk to them because I feel like they are my neighbors and I think it is good to talk to your neighbors!

It was an interesting conversation for being a first conversation with someone. He told me that he feels very uncomfortable talking to homeless people. They make him feel insecure and he always feels like they are trying to get something from him.

I looked at him and thought how odd it was that it makes me feel very different when I talk to homeless people. I feel like it is a simple act that affirms us as human beings and even though sometimes there are people who try to take advantage of us, often there are people who just want someone to talk to.

Obviously, there are people that I'm afraid to talk to and there are people that I cannot talk to because they might take advantage of me but, those are decisions that are made on a daily/individual basis. I don't just ignore people automatically because they are homeless.

Anyway, the thing is that as we were talking I told my new friend about these homeless people that I walk by everyday and that I asked them their names so that I could at least say good morning and say their name. I told him that yesterday a homeless man that I always walk by asked me as I was walking by why I never stopped to chat with him. I slowed down, I apologized and told him that I'd come early today so that I would have some time to chat with him.

So, anyway... this morning I stopped by and asked his name and learned a couple things about him. He told me that he ended up on the streets because he has Korsakoff's syndrome where he forgets everything every couple of days. He was nice and didn't ask me for anything, he just told me his story. So, after chatting with him I walked down through the park that I always walk through and said "Good morning" to Joe, who I always say good morning to and then, when I took three steps past Joe...

...someone was walking next to me and he said, "that was weird" and it was my friend from last night! I looked at him in disbelief. It was weird because he caught me in the very act of doing the very thing that we'd talked about the night before when we'd met. We sort of talked awkwardly and walked to our office buildings. It was so random! I wonder if my new friend and I will run into each other all the time now.

the maddening capriciousness of the creative process

Ok, I promise that I won't keep just posting videos but, this is also SO good!

I went to NYC...

I think I mentioned that I went to NYC last weekend. I actually have a few funny stories from my time there. Overall, it was GREAT to have time to wander around the city, watch people, think, read, etc. I did love New York City even though I don't think I'd want to live there, not right now at least.

this i used to believe

So, the other day I was listening to This American Life episode 378 called This I Used to Believe and in Act Two of the show they told this story about a woman who had lost her best friend to cancer. This is the synopsis:

"This past Christmas a story swept the internet about a football coach at a Christian high school in Texas who inspired his team’s fans to root for the opposition: a team from the local juvenile correctional facility. Among the thousands of emails that the coach received in response to his actions, one stood out to him. Trisha Sebastian mentioned her loss of faith, and coach Hogan got a message from God that he was meant to bring her back."

It was SO sad. I cannot even begin to describe how frustrating it was to hear Ira Glass have something more appropriate to say to the girl about the death of her friend than the Christian coach. It is sad how often Christians are not good at listening before they start giving "apologies" to people who don't necessarily need or want them.

P.S. I would love to work here. And THIS is SO romantic. Oh my. He's taking one picture of Nadine every day, for a year.

ice skating!

I recently became friends with a girl who works for an organization called Partners of the Americas. I am excited about this organization. I'm excited because it really works with a volunteerism in a way that I appreciate. I would enjoy being part of an organization like this one.

I was invited to spend some time with their youth ambassadors and was super excited about it.

Their website says that "The Youth Ambassadors program offers Latin America youth new international opportunities and experiences to broaden their knowledge of U.S. culture, society, and education. The participants and U.S. audiences will increase their mutual understanding among peoples of the Americas. The Youth Ambassadors for the Americas program will not only provide new knowledge and experience for participants, but also prepare them for a lifetime of leadership and community service."

I got to ice skating with them on Friday night. I love skating. I think I forgot how scary and hard it is the first time that you get on the ice. Otherwise, it's so much fun! I enjoyed the students and I think I'm going to hang out with them again on Sunday afternoon.

snow, snow, snow

Well, today I woke up to see the blanket of snow outside. It was fantastic. I still went to my morning job but, got to come back and spend the rest of my afternoon working on projects and listening to the This American Life podcast. Very plesant. Tomorrow is supposed to be VERY cold, I'm not excited about that. I will be happy when it's warmer again.

I had a very busy week last week. It was busy with work, organizing, and thinking. I was processing a lot of things. It is very odd how our most beautiful moments or experiences can be over-shadowed by the difficult aspects of those moments. I've been wondering about that. Do I just make things difficult? Do I just choose to emphasize the worst over the best? Perhaps. I do believe that there are experiences that are just down-right difficult.

Am I an optimist or a pessimist? I don't know. But, right now I feel pretty optimistic about life. So, I'm going to go enjoy my evening at home.

ira made my day

Yesterday, I got to go see and hear ira glass speak at BORDERS in DC. I went with my housemate Rachel and we bonded over our shared appreciation of ira's witty sense of humor, delightful appreciation of life, and brilliant ability to tell stories and capture your imagination and attention.

We arrived an hour and a half early to secure a good seat. As we waited expectantly with the other early-comers I thought about how odd it was. In some ways it made me feel guilty, being a fan of ira glass represents something about my level of education and life experience. As the crowd grew it looke very college-educated, white and young. I guess it doesn't matter.

I love hearing ira talk about telling stories, about people, and just about life in general. He is an optimist and yet, he doesn't particularly shy away from the gloomy and darker sides of life. I like that. I guess that is why I love This American Life. It just shows how you can be intensley amused by the most random people and events, you can be reflective about most things that happen to you, and best of all it all shines a type of hopeful light on life.

The last time I was so excited to see a "famous person" was when I got to meet Ishmael Beah. Some of you will remember that...

How to portray poverty without offending the poor...

Not too long ago I went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire with some friends. The movie is a strange mix of a fairy-tale like romance and a horrible portrayal of what seems like a brutally cruel life in the slums of Mumbai. I left the movie with mixed feelings. It was happy? It was terribly sad? I don't know...

I was just reading about the very negative reaction that many people in India had towards the movie. There were protests about the use of the word "dog" in the title. Many people considered it offensive. At the same time, others have said that it is just that most people wouldn't be willing to be so brutally honest about the conditions that many people do live in. It's complicated, that's for sure.

Panama is the most wonderful place in the world...

I just saw the cutest little cartoon about a trip to Panama. I think that you could take a lot of lessons from it, about what home really means etc. But, my favorite part is that Panama is the "most wonderful place in the world."

Hierroglyphic

"Frank Plant is a Barcelona based American sculptor." He has some interesting stuff!

Mourning Separation

We see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now we know in part; then we shall understand fully,
even as we have been fully understood.
I Corinthians 13

This morning as I was wandering around the internet, I realized that Richard John Neuhaus the long-time editor of First Things --a religious journal on theology, culture, and politics-- just died. I have from time to time been deeply grateful for the articles and essays published in the journal and on their website. At times it is a bit over my head but, most of the time it is very helpful to see excellent theological-political thinking.

Anyway, I just was touched by the thought of death and these words, "My tears are not for him—for he knew, all his life, that his Redeemer lives, and he has now been gathered by the Lord in whom he trusted." I read the news of his death after I was thinking about the song "O Come and Mourn with Me a While" ...

A broken heart, a fount of tears,
Ask, and they will not be denied;
A broken heart love’s cradle is:
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

And victory remains with love,
Jesus our Lord is crucified!

Love's victory doesn't tell us to not mourn or shed tears even though they are found deeply rooted in hope that one day all things will be made right.

Neuhaus was a Lutheran who became Roman Catholic. In this essay he tells the story of that journey towards converting to Roman Catholicism. It is interesting to come across this today since the question of Catholicism vs Evangelicalism has been very present in my heart in the past months.

I will probably sit down to read his story once again soon but, a couple little things stood out to me: "The great confessional Lutheran theologian Peter Brunner regularly said that a Lutheran who does not daily ask himself why he is not a Roman Catholic cannot know why he is a Lutheran." I loved how he ended his story, I love the spirit with which Neuhaus wrote:

As for now, I end where I began—as in my life’s course I began where I have ended by saying again: “To those of you with whom I have traveled in the past, know that we travel together still. In the mystery of Christ and his Church nothing is lost, and the broken will be mended. If, as I am persuaded, my communion with Christ’s Church is now the fuller, then it follows that my unity with all who are in Christ is now the stronger. We travel together still.”

Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

I just finished reading Me Talk Pretty One Day and enjoyed it very much. I am a This American Life (the radio show from NPR) fan and David Sedaris is a regular contributor to that show. Therefore, I really like his somewhat dry, slightly sarcastic, yet surprisingly insightful humor.

I really enjoyed the second half of the book which includes essays about living in France. I really enjoyed the essay "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" about stealing other people's stories and adopting them as your own. I'm sure that I've done that and that it has been done to me. There have been many times when someone will say "Hannah, tell the story about the time that..." as if it was something that had actually happened to them.

Anyway, it was a good, fast read. There are some parts of the book that causes the conservative in me to hesitate recommending it to the more conservative people in my life but, all in all it is brilliantly written. He's such a good storyteller.

View all my reviews.

I wanted to kiss you... um, I mean...

One thing that is really noticeable about returning to North America is that people don't greet each other or say goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. When I return I always have some awkward moments when I'm about to say goodbye to someone and I almost kiss them and then realize at the last moment that I would probably freak them out if I did...

So, on Sunday a couple days after I had returned from Central America I was introduced to this new friend. I had JUST met him and when we were about to say goodbye I was about to lean in to kiss him on the cheek and then I stopped. I was embarrassed and said out loud "I wanted to kiss you" and then realized how that sounded and was even more embarrassed and said, "I didn't want to kiss you, I mean, I was going to kiss you..." and got flustered and finally explained that in Latin America people greet each other and say goodbye with a kiss and I haven't quite gotten out of the habit yet.

It was really embarrassing and I've been stopping myself from trying to kiss people on the cheek since then... I found this video and thought I'd share it with you.

Huck it Huge

I have a lot of amazing friends from university and just recently I found out that one of them (Mikey) is going through chemotherapy. I love Mikey and Bonnie. You probably will never meet a more fun couple. When you get to know Bonnie it will not take long for you to hear her say, "Huck it huge!" 'Huck it huge!' is Bonnie's way of saying... 'go for it with your whole heart and don't hold anything back!'

Both Mikey and Bonnie know how to live and enjoy life like very few people do. They realized that Mikey had cancer not long after they got married, talk about getting thrown for a loop! They just made this YouTube video and posted it on their blog. They are doing a super cool job of reminding everyone to 'Huck it huge!' all the time...

Shen Wei Master of Ceremonies

I just heard an interview with Shen Wei the guy who did the choreography for the impressive Olympic opening ceremony. He is a Chinese choreographer, director, dancer, painter and designer.

Shen Wei was born in a rural village of Hunan, China in 1968. Son of Chinese opera professionals, he left home at the age of nine to study the form. In 1991, he became a founding member—dancer and choreographer—of the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first like it in China. Upon receiving a scholarship he moved to New York City in 1995. He is actually a naturalized American citizen which is so interesting.

You can hear the interview on The Story and see Shen Wei's website here.