Moving slowly

Do you ever feel as though everyone is moving faster than you? That they are more capable to manage all that life has- and you wonder if they are on a 30 hour day instead of the standard 24 hours that you have. I do not know how to pack more into my life... every day i fall a little more behind. I want to fit everything in but it doesn't work and well---- it isn't good. My list grows longer, and my anxiety heightens to the point of being so overwelmed that I can't think straight because there is just too much jamming my airwaves at once. They are all jocking for position and importance and blocking the way.

So, yes I feel very much as though others are moving EXTREMELY faster than I. And in this case, the steady do not win. Maybe I need a new strategy! I should pull the "to Do's" the bossy little twirps that they are from a hat...that way they don't fight for attention- disasterous if I spend the night mending my hole ridden socks instead of applying for a job- so no a hat won't work.

Maybe a new calendar to prioritize on- well I've now got 3! One more and I'll need a suitcase to carry all my items. BAH! Another twirpy "to do"- figure out how to manage the "to do's". TOooo much for this night!

New School

This is S. Bruce Smith... i took this picture the first time i saw it. I live here 8am till approx. 4ish pm everyday with 10 art classes, leadership class and homeroom....in total the school has 700 students and i teach 400 through the course of a week.

Junior High students are so different than 15 years ago when i was a student there- and they are different from me. Everyday i tell myself that they are precious, they are just children and it is a honor to teach another's child. By end of day, these thoughts are harder to retain, but luckily at that point the children go home and i go to the gym to work out my anxious energies on a treadmill.

i still worry about the future of education, of children and of their precious lives. i know there is much i can teach them however getting them to listen is the first challenge. The lessons i wish to teach them are endless- i need to find their rhythm and their "what works" and then FIT IT.

Is Art a Luxury or a NEED?

This is a piece from Harold Klunder - a past University Professor of mine.

Is ART a LUXURY or a NEED?

For the last two years, art has been a luxury- - - a luxury of time, of space, of thought, of life… The last couple years have been HARD and months ago, I set it into survival mode. And yet looking back, the times when I was happiest, I had some form of art going on whether in community class, CRAFT creativity - - - some way of a personal creative outlet. I should have clued in that survival for me is having a voice of creativity- - - when did I forget? What am I going to do now to change my current path? It is a NEED.

On a global sense, is art a need or luxury?

How do different societies view art? I grew up with academics, attendance and sports being the recognizable accomplishments. What about art? Why do some struggle to take it seriously?

Is there a way to teach appreciation or enhance the NEED of art in society?

What LENSE are you LOOKING through?

Do you really SEE? I was in superstore the yesterday standing in the “10 items or less line”. There was a very European woman (my own stereotypical judgment) probably 55-65 yrs old. Behind her was a man in his 30’s form an African background although he was wearing an oversized baseball/toque color striped cap. I was standing behind him. The woman placed her items on the counter but did not remove her basket from the shelf. The man then asked her to move the basket so that he had somewhere to place his while he unloaded. She first ignored him, and then looked him up and down giving him a disgusted look of despise. I watched the whole thing- and then wondered how many looks a day he gets? I moved the basket, watched the European woman leave and saw this young man’s daughter of 10 years old come bouncing over. Does she experience the same as her father? What makes us so ignorant and make these judgments? Is it our right to judge one another? How do we change it?

Such a long long time

It has been weeks since a post- not much has changed but the moments are great! I have completed another semester of school, started student teaching, and have been attending the YMCA for gym time! It is time to find a new rhythm again. To be a teacher, to be an exerciser, to be a student, to be a designer, to be a roommate.....so many roles and not enough time in the day for it all. Where does one start to find balance?

Busy Work

Another day of busy work of checking off more on my "to do" list. I am starting to prepare for seeking, once again, WORK--- a life outside of being a university student to a working member of society. It is coming along though....

I am also watching documentaries of artist --- an assignment for art class! Friday night of laundry, art movies and ice cream for dinner! It is certainly a day and an evening of GO--- and definately tomorrow too.