Kismet is on vacation for the following week.
Brief updates may occur, such as this one:
Rejuventating…recharging…
Fall Break
Author: chungwipff
A “Fitting” End to the Day
Yesterday was a busy day. In addition to a full day at school, my daughters had an orchestra rehearsal which ran from 6:30 – 8:30pm an hour away from home. This requires planning of dinner, commute and homework.
Our two teenagers are more interested in snapping and editing selfies than looking out the window or talking to us, their parents. They read their instant messages and scroll Instragram. They laugh and trade one-liners that I don’t understand. I’m not privvy to their virtual world. When I try to understand and ask questions, I am met with sighs and sarcasm. I’ve learned how to adapt: I basically talk to myself every morning or sing to the radio as I drop one off to high school and take the other one to work/school. At 13 and 14, my daughters are physically beautiful specimens – fortunate with the gene pool (1/2 Korean, 1/2 German-Scottish-French). They are blissfully ignorant of their luck in aesthetics and parents. Heck, they totally take it for granted. They take everything for granted.
I’m (nearly) 48. I take care of myself and exercise regularly. But my Morning Mirror Time is a fraction of theirs. I apply light makeup and give my hair a quick brush in a matter of 5 minutes. Literally. I just can’t be bothered. Yet, I consider myself above average in appearance. You can tell I was once very pretty, just by looking at me.
In any case, I’m a teacher and I dress for the job. I have a very comfortable dress, v-neck, that goes just below my knees. Here it is:
I bought it at a boutique shop near my house. The salesperson ooh’d and aah’d when I modeled it for her. I thought maybe I looked a little frumpy. No, she said, you look perfect. I have not had anyone ooh or aah in several years despite my augmentation following breast cancer surgery 6 years ago. Cancer gave me the chest of my dreams: from 34A to 34C.
Well, I wore this dress yesterday. All day. I’ve worn this dress at least 10 times before for various occasions. No one has complimented me, but that’s OK. I don’t need compliments. I’m almost 50 for Pete’s sake. I don’t dress for others, I dress for ME!
My daughters and I were eating dinner before their Phoenix Youth Symphony rehearsal. Food that I ordered by phone. Food that I ordered and picked up and brought to them, lovingly. As I got up to throw trash away, the 14 year old sighed heavily while eyeing my dress.
“What?” I looked to see if there were food stains on it.
Another sigh. Exceptionally heavy. “Mom, I just wish…I just wish you’d wear something….better.”
Suddenly, she gets all Tim Gunn on me. Really? I’ve worked all day with 90+ students. Attended an IEP meeting before school started. Ordered food with my bare hands…and now this? I expect her to follow it with (in gay voice), “It doesn’t even work conceptually.”
“Why do you say this to me AFTER I’ve worn it all day?”
She looks up at her father who has just entered the room. As usual, she completely disregards my question, my feelings.
“What’s going on?” He asks.
“Mom’s dress.”
All three give me a hard look. Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum and Michael Kors, all are staring at me. Judging me. I feel bloated.
Tim speaks.
“Her dress, it looks like a Powerpoint.”
All concur.
I drive home. My hands, gripping the wheel, smell like Greek chicken and tzaziki sauce.
Tim Gunn
One New Habit: A New You
We’re still 87 days to New Year’s (but who’s counting)?
Maybe you get excited about setting resolutions. Maybe you are thinking of how you are FINALLY going to change…lose weight, make/save more money, get a new job/spouse/partner.
Or maybe not. Maybe you’ve tried and failed so many times, you’ve given up.
If you are serious about reaching your goals, then you need to develop healthy habits. It’s the things you do on a daily basis that ultimately lead to the actualization of your dreams. Crash diets don’t lead to long-term weight loss. Superficial makeovers don’t lead to marriage and a lottery ticket won’t make you rich (your chances: 1 in 14 million).
It’s going to take change on a daily basis. But it doesn’t have to be painful.
Charles Duhigg of The Power of Habit discusses the surprising power of developing a small habit. He found that people who formed a small, healthy habit usually developed other strong, healthy habits.
For example, I know someone who decided to see if drinking 64 oz of water every day would get rid of her under eye circles. She drank at least 64 oz of water every day for six weeks. She didn’t notice a difference with the dark circles (dang it!), but she did notice that she was eating healthier foods and exercising more regularly which led her to sleeping better.
Duhigg was right!
What small, healthy habit can you begin today?
4 Ways to Creative, Financial Freedom
I have been following Deep Space Sparkle by Patty Palmer for years. I’ve watched her grow from an art teacher writing about her passions to a full-fledged entrepreneur with one of the most generous websites I’ve ever landed on.
Yesterday, I told you about Teachers Pay Teachers, a website where you can post your hard-earned work and start getting paid for it. Patty has created her own website and offers curriculum for sale (as well as a lot of FREE valuable resources).
In her latest podcast, she reviews and shares her successes as a teacher and businesswoman. Teachers are some of the most creative, loving people you will ever meet, but it’s hard for them (us) to ask to be paid what we’re worth. Here are some of Patty’s tips for success while leaving your love of teaching intact:
- Enjoy – really enjoy – your teaching right now. Use this opportunity to experiment with your students…see what works. Bring your best each and every day.
- Start selling slowly. Use Teachers Pay Teachers, or start your own website. Don’t quit your job to do it, just begin.
- Create your curriculum based on your passions, don’t look to children or their parents for direction.
- Learn new skills! Have fun as you learn. It’s never too late.
One (of many) things I love about Patty’s site is that she emphasizes the importance of living and loving the present moment. This is what Kismet is all about. The paradox of success: In order to “get there”, you need to “be here.”
2 Quick Tips for Self-Publishing and Entrepreneurship
As my illustrators get to work, I want to apprise you of two valuable resources for self-publishing and entrepreneurship – especially if you’re a teacher – but for everyone.
Tip #1: Fiverr.com– Here, you can find every possible digital need: marketing, video animation, programming, singer-songwriters and translation work. Each gig starts at $5. You can also sell your services here.
Here is what you see when you browse for “Cartoon & Caricatures”:
You can communicate with artists before making a decision. All you need to do is agree upon a deadline and price and then wait. I used an artist who lives in Germany. I just needed cover art for a short story and she did a fantastic job…for $5! Providers are given reviews to hold them accountable for delivery time and customer satisfaction.
Tip #2: Especially for teachers – is TeachersPayTeachers.com Here, you can find high-quality lesson plans and activities for your grade level and subject matter. Almost all material has been created by teachers. Again, providers are reviewed by customers and everyone strives to attain a 4.0. There are teachers on this site who are so good, that their pay from TpT equals or exceeds their teacher salary!
Here is the Halloween page:
Selling your work is free and easy. They have ample tutorials and advice to help you be successful. If you sell a lot, it’s recommended that you go to “premium” status, which costs you about $60/year, but you’ll get a higher percent of your sales.
Here’s the breakdown for getting paid via PayPal and Dwolla:
Here’s to creating, learning, teaching and prospering!
Children’s Book Self-Publishing: Lessons As I Go
My illustrators (daughters, ages 13 and 14) have been busy with homework and violin concerts this week. But I hope they make a lot of progress this weekend:
In the meantime, I am shopping for translators at our school. Fortunately, I have access to a couple Spanish teachers and one Mandarin teacher. I will be asking them today if they’d be interested in doing language translations.
This means I need to create a document with just the text. Currently, I have text and illustrations (or placeholders). Lesson learned: next time, create a text only documents first.
I’m pretty excited about this stage because it adds a lot of value to the book. Adding a language component can expose children to other languages and pique their interest if they’re not already learning Mandarin, Spanish, Korean or French.
Make Your Own Motivational Poster: Tip #9
The final tip Daniel Pink offers in his book Drive is to Create Your Own Motivational Poster. I know, it sounds lame, but I played around with it and it’s incredibly fun.
Try these sites:
http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php
I made my Kismet poster using bighugelabs.com. It was very easy.
Try it!
Motivational Jump Starts: Tip #8
Here is a smart and simple exercise for assessing whether you’re on the right road to autonomy, mastery and purpose in your life from Alan Webber, Fast Magazine cofounder.
Get a few index cards. On one card, write your response to this question:What gets you up in the morning? On the other side of that card, write “What keeps you up at night?”
Keep each answer to one sentence. Stop when each gives you a sense of “meaning and direction.” Now you have something to use as your personal compass. Check in to see if they remain true. If not, ask yourself what you’re going to do about it.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Motivational Jump Starts: Tip #7
Daniel Pink’s Drive shows that mastery requires “deliberate practice” which is not simply consistency of work, but “very purposeful, focused and…painful” work.
Five steps to mastery:
- Deliberate practice includes changing your performance and setting new goals, not simply doing the same thing over and over again (Pink, 158).
- Repetition matters. “Basketball greats don’t shoot ten free throws…they shoot five hundred.”
- Seek constant, critical feedback.
- Focus on your weaknesses and how you can get better.
- Prepare for an arduously exhausting mental and physical process. This is why so few succeed. Not too many people commit this strongly. Will you?
Motivational Jump Starts: Tip #6
Tip #6 from Daniel Pink’s Drive cannot be overstated: Just say no. Pink informs us that management guru Tom Peters creates a “To Don’t” list. These items zap energy and time away from goals.
In today’s fast-paced, highly-distractable world, staying on point is an obstacle in and of itself.
“What you decide not to do is probably more important than what you decide to do.”
Make a list of what detracts from your goals and work. Web-surfing? Netflix? Cleaning? Responding to emails? Don’t do it!
Kismet 