It's August and It's Gonna Be a Good Month!
Looking through my blogs I realized it's almost a year since my first post! Not that it didn't brew in my head for a much longer time; and when I look at my posts I see the bursts of posts and then the lulls and I remember what spurred both! As I look back on the year I realize it is time to make more firm commitment to posting; even if they might only be ramblings, my hope is it reaches at least one person to bring a laugh, a smile, a me too moment, inspire a choice, give a little push toward that first step of a journey of many miles!
Today, I just look at the calendar and think how much of 2018 is part of my herstory, good or bad, I look to take something from each kind. On the first day of school I tell my students, make mistakes; of course this raises eyebrows and looks of wait is this some kind of trick. NO! In quotes we are told mistakes are proof we are trying! Lover of words, and hoping to inspire them to spend the year tearing them apart to get to know them better, I tell them what word do you see in MISTAKE? Of course every teacher has the answer they are looking for, but it is a time to be open to their perception and what perspective they can bring; there will be that one student who will hit it...TAKE and so begins our journey of making mistakes but remembering to TAKE something from each one. Whether it's a way to get it right next time or to avoid doing that again; it's part of the process. So as I look back at the 7 months of 2018 that have already gone by I look at what I can TAKE from both the good and the bad to make the next 5 months of 2018 not even the best, but just filled with meaning and things that help me to continue to create myself!
I love celebrations and themes, it really ramped up when I had my own children and then escalated even more when I balanced themes and celebrations for my own children and then created them for classrooms of young learners that have belonged to me. So of course I follow the calendars of national days and as I peek at the days ahead; well August seems to be a treasurer trove of great fun......the first weeks alone....there is girlfriend day; coloring book and ice cream sandwich day on the same day!!!; watermelon day; chocolate chip cookie day; friendship day; and days dedicated to root beer floats; wiggling your toes (get a pedi first or to celebrate); book lovers; rice pudding; s'mores; being lazy; and bowling! Just imagine the fun you can have in what they traditionally call the dog days of summer if you celebrate even a few of these! I'm in to beat the heat with some creative celebrating; I hope you are too!
May August be your month to pick a theme...for a day, a dinner, or just a few you hours! May you find many reasons beyond published days to celebrate! When we were little we lived for June, July, and August. If you've been seeing yourself coming and going the past two months, take August by force, and like that excited child you were when you woke up each summer vacation morning, be open to all the possibilities of the day and seek them out! Do it for you and to make it a great month!