The Sunrise Story

Early morning at the beach. It's 4:26 AM in the morning of the second day of school. Silence...other than a car driving down the road. I love waking up when the world is asleep! These are moments I cherish...before the world awakes and life begins for the day. I breathe deeply. I listen more closely. I write. I think. I pray. These are the moments that make me a morning person. When I miss the early morning time, I feel like I missed time with an old friend. A friend who sees me. A friend who calms me. I feel a little bit lost and a little bit off kilter for the day.   Mom and I share our love of early morning time. As everyone wakes up, things start to happen...quickly. It's trash day, I need to empty the trash. School begins and the students arrive. Have I made my lunch? Drive to school before traffic gets bad and I'm late. That meeting is happening today...life moves and shifts like tectonic plates. Right now, stretch. Listen. Write. Pray. Breathe. Think....

Time passes Slowly All at once. Year after year I teach. Students come Students go I teach. Time passes Slowly All at once. I witness Graduations Moving New jobs Engagements Death. In the past week, I've seen so many former students. I saw  a lot at the memorial service for one of my former fifth grade students. She was a light. Kind. Beautiful. There aren't enough tears to grieve this loss. At her service, I saw student after student... Grown up.  We hug.  Catch up.  I marvel  at the who they are.  I feel hope.  Hope for our broken world.  They are kind.  As I look into their twenty-something year old eyes,  I still see the fifth grader.  Their joy.  Time passes Slowly All at once. Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Te...

I came across this Instagram post and decided to jump in and join! Please join me!!! Good morning. Hope you've had your shower. I sure have. We start writing tomorrow, the first day of school in these parts so go get a new notebook or journal or sketch pad or start a new blog or word doc. Whatever feels the most natural to you (I prefer typing. Others love pen on yellow legal pads). Decide when you'll write (only 8 minutes!) and where you'll write (your bed? A desk? The porch? The bathroom?). The main rule for this whole thing is to be kind to yourself. It's okay if you miss days. It's okay if you feel like you have nothing to say. There's no good writing or bad writing. The goal is to just write. Anything. The more we do it, the more surprised we'll be. Toni Morrison once said: "it's not being in the light, it's being there before it arrives." Til tomorrow friends. A photo posted by Ann Dee Ellis (@anndeecandy) on Aug 16, 2016...

In sitting down to write my slice today, I discovered this poem. I wrote it in the beginning of July. I don't remember why I wrote it or why I didn't post it, but here it is... We see the world through our lens. And that lens- the lens we see our entire world through- is tiny and only shows our perspective. I wonder how my lens would change if I was different? If I was older or younger, a different race, a different religion, lived in another place... How would my world look through the eyes of someone else? Take a moment. Wonder. Think. Everyday I work to widen my lens. Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers .

1. She's my mom! 2. Her laugh is the best! 3. Gives great advice! 4. She loves me! 5. She loves my sister! 6. Being Grammy is the best! 7. She's a great big sister! 8. Mom's a teacher who loves her students! 9. She is the best read-alouder! 10. She's cute! 11. She loves to wear cute shoes! 12. Mom cares about everyone! 13. She's always encouraged me to follow my heart! 14. Mom is a reader. 15. We recommend books to each other.  16. Mom bought me my first notebook. 17. She encourages my writing. 18. Mom tries to be tech savvy. 19. "Air internet." Her description of internet 20. "Hand pictures." These are not pictures of hands, these are pictures you can hold in your hands. 21. "The cloud." She doesn't even want to know. 22. She visits me in Virginia.  23. We share a love of being in the ocean. 24. Mom goes to the gym everyday! GO Mom! 25. She's passionate about her grandchildren. 26. She tolerates Bell...

My sacred writing time is in the morning. (I borrowed this phrase of "sacred writing time" from the amazing Whitney!) Morning is a sacred time for me, period. I am a morning person.  I wake up, grab my notebook, and write. I'm going to be honest...it doesn't happen everyday...it never happens like that during the summer, but during the school year, that's how I start my day. Thirty minutes. A notebook. Sit down and write. Julia Cameron first introduced the idea of morning pages to me in the 90s. Her instructions are, "Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing,done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*" (from Cameron's website ) During the writing institute we started each day with time to write morning pages. When I showed up to those pages, I wrote a lot and felt good when I was done. Other days, I sat and wrote and tweeted and got some water, and checked me email...di...

Today is my last day at the beach. I'm always surprised at how much I yearn to go home at the end of a vacation.  Don't get me wrong, I adore the beach! The ocean. The sand. The sun. The cool breeze. The waves. Peace. All of that is why I come back again and again every chance I get...but, I love my home too. Waking up and writing morning pages at my desk. Walking Bella. A cup of coffee from my own coffee pot. Reading a good book. Just BE-ing. Today I celebrate vacations. I celebrate the beach. I celebrate family. I also celebrate home.  Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space to share our celebrations. Please join us and share your own!

I'm at the beach. Wells Beach in Maine. The first two days were cloudy and cool. I woke up today to sunshine. Here are some pictures for you... Our beach house...mere steps from the beach. As soon as we arrived, we walked to the beach. YAY! We are finally here! Jack has begun his search for sea glass! Jillian and Grammy test the water! Jack is STILL searching for sea glass! Our first family game night! Uno ATTACK. The Marys telling secrets & figuring out technology together...yikes! 5:00am on the beach. Morning pages.  An early morning selfie... Reading starts our day. Auntie Chelle & Jillian selfie. This trolley looked like a good idea. (It wasn't!) The famous lobster roll from The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, ME. Best. Lobster roll. Ever. Waiting for the trolley...again.   Our version of rebellion. This was only our first day and a half. The sun and the beach and my family are waiting for me...