The Sunrise Story

Monday morning started out as any other in school. We turned on the morning announcements to begin our day. Our principal ends each day with sharing part of our school's mission statement. He does this every day. It becomes part of the fabric of our community since we hear it daily. Here's the full mission statement: On this particular morning, there was a change. Mr. Phillips paused and changed the mission statement. I noticed the seventh and eighth-grade students in my class, look up and pay attention to this change. Here is what he said, " We offer every student and staff member here, each day, an unlimited welcome. No matter who you are, what your background, religious beliefs, ethnicity, or how you look, speak, or dress – that welcome is unlimited and unchanging. Today, treat each person with dignity, so that dignity can grow into understanding. For, in the end, there is only one true school rule – treat others with the respect and kindness that you wo...

I'm fat. Overweight. Large. Big boned. Chunky. There are so many euphemisms for this... condition...is that what this is? A condition? I've spent a good amount of my life hating my body. Others have expressed that hatred, dislike, or discomfort to me too. People have said, "Just eat less." It's been suggested to me to attend a diet meeting, or read a book on this diet or that. All of these "helpful" suggestions have come to me uninvited. I've tried diets...lots of them. I've hidden my body. I've felt shame about my body. I've skipped out on things because I felt like I was too big to participate. For me, taking part in these diets always came because someone else thought I should. Change came from fear and shame. This weekend, I turned 45. In reflecting upon this past year, I spent much of my 44th year working on loving myself...just as I am. Before I do anything else, I must love myself. I did lots of writing, reading, and reflec...

There have been so many moments lately where I've felt fear. (In looking back through my posts, I wrote about this very topic two years ago.) Lately, my fear is for our country, our world.  Turn on the news, any channel and the drama and extreme points of view create fear in me. The political climate of our country creates fear in me. I almost didn't write this morning, because of fear of what to write. Enough. What's the cure for my fear? Kindness. When I use the word kindness, I'm using Merriam Webster's definition, "the quality or state of being kind". Kindness is listening. Kindness is standing up for my beliefs. My beliefs are simple: everyone has a story that's valuable and deserves respect.  I don't care what your political affiliation is, I care that you want the best for every person in the world and you will fight for it, in your way. I'm reminded of these words from  Oriah Mountain Dreamer 's poem,  "The Invitat...

Travel is good for the soul. I enjoy going to new places and exploring. There's something about being in a new environment. The air feels different, the sky looks different. I slow down when I travel and notice things more clearly. I love it. It doesn't matter what the destination is either. I enjoy traveling. Where is this exotic location I'm visiting? It's none other than Dublin...Ohio. There's a literacy conference in Dublin next month and I'm presenting with the amazing Deb Frazier ! Here's the blurb for our presentation... I can't wait! I get to share some time with an amazing teacher and writer. I get to attend other conference sessions and learn from the best! I get to a long drive to a new place while I listen to my favorite tunes and audiobooks. I get to stay in a hotel.  This is new for me. Travel used to create a huge amount of stress and anxiety for me. I'd worry all the time about weather and getting lost. I'd worry ab...

This started off as a tough week. There wasn't anything big that happened, but I was feeling overwhelmed and lost. Worry seemed to be the boss of my emotions and I couldn't shake it. I did the things I do when I'm feeling out of sorts and none of them were working. Life seemed to continue on a path of uncertainty and I felt like nothing was going to snap me out of it. I felt like I was already failing at my word, RISE.  This is where writing saves me time and time again. Every day I sit down with my notebook. Some days I ignore these anxious thoughts and wrote about other stuff. My writing on other days takes me head first into the dread. It all helps... every single word, syllable, letter that I write...it all helps me on this journey. I celebrate it all! It's not magic. It's showing up. It's the work. It's the willingness to sit with the messiness of life. In the end, I did RISE. Things came together. I listened and talked to wise women in my life w...

The beginning of a new year is exciting, filled with potential and possibilities. Things can be different. I use this time to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. I use a word to help me focus my reflection and my choices. This year my word is RISE. What do I want to accomplish with this word? What do I want RISE to help me do or be? I want to RISE from the grasp of fear. We are all afraid of things. We all feel fear. There are times when I feel frozen in fear. It stops me. I want to RISE from the fear and simply begin. As soon as I begin, the fear dissipates. I want to do things and RISE from the negativity. I want to show up. I want to write. I want to be a better teacher. I want to make this world a better place. This means I need to RISE to the occasion and do something. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rise  How will I RISE in 2017? That's the best part... I don't know. I want to focus on the positive. I want to develop rituals and rout...

Happy New Year! It's 2017 and here I am again with another word of the year, otherwise known as my OLW. To talk about where I'm going, I want to look back and see where this all started.  2009: Mettle 2010: Engage 2011: Build 2012: Embrace 2013: Author 2014: Risk 2015: Fly 2016: Selah Picking a word began in 2009 with the word, METTLE. ENGAGE followed that in 2010. BUILD, EMBRACE, and AUTHOR continued the tradition in 2011, '12, and '13. In 2014, the words seemed to find me...RISK and FLY in 2015. Those are two words that made a great impact on my life. I just said goodbye to SELAH for 2016. This word was out of the ordinary. I loved this word. I used it to name a business that I opened this year. These words become part of my DNA.  Picking a word became easier for more the more I did it, until this year. It seemed that if I was open and listening, the word would find me. It was a moment. Obvious. That didn't happen this year. I struggled...