Personal Success

Podcasts and Promises

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Daily Painting Challenge: Day 9

I just finished listening to a Rich Roll podcast. His guest was Jesse Itzler who wrote a best selling book about Living with a (Navy) SEAL. Itzler is also married to Sara Blakely who founded Spanx.

Pursuing outrageous physical feats is not my bag. However, I like to keep learning about motivation and what might help others (as well as me) get/stay motivated to constantly improve (work, relationships).

 The biggest takeaway from this podcast for me was to “circle a date in the future” for a goal I have in mind and then to tell everyone about it to hold myself accountable. As soon as I published “Esther, Mia and the Stars,*” I wanted to write my next book. But I haven’t. So here it is: by December 13th, 2018, I will write (and illustrate!) book #2. 

What have you put on the backburner? Share it now (here or elsewhere), and get going!

 

 

 

*Yes, it says “Mia, Esther and the Stars” on Amazon. But it’s the right book.  ;P

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freebie for You

Now that I have nearly mastered painting (as evidenced in my drunken kangaroo and Chiweenie (aka “the Rat Dog”), I am sure you are wondering what goes on in the mind of an artistic genius. 

You’re in luck.

I’ve decided to share this with you – and completely free of charge:

First, I sit with a pencil, a glass of water, my assortment of paint brushes, my gouache paints and the paper. The magic commences…

Oh God, I can’t…I just can’t draw this monkey/llama/dog/cat/kangaroo…I wish someone would draw it for me and I could just paint it. Like a coloring book, but with paint, not crayons.

Oh no…I cannot mix paints. I wish these colors all just came in the tubes – ready to go. I’m no good at mixing colors. They never come out the way I want. Wah…wah…wah!

Ugh, I have to paint that fine line? How? How does anyone paint such straight/smooth/exact lines?  Its. Too. Hard. 

Surprised? Yes, I knew you would be. Even great artists can be wracked with self-doubt. But we just go on and do it.

It is called “courage,” grasshopper.

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Ice Breakers Part Deux

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The Hairless Rat

It’s summer school, 8:45am and the second graders are doing ice breakers (see yesterday’s post)

Adam*: “I have a little dog, a big dog and a cat…that cat is not so nice.”

Me: “I see. Does the cat bite?”

Adam: “Sometimes. If you came to my house and tried to pet it, then yes.”

Me: (laughing) “Well, I’ll try to remember that.”

“Oh! I also have…had…a hairless rat.”

“Had? Did he die?”

“Yes. He’s dead.”

“Dare I ask…did the not-so-nice cat…”

“No, no. The rat, he just died. You know, it’s the circle of life thing.”

* (not his real name)

Kids and Pets Part I

The Setting: Summer School with eleven 2nd graders, 8:45am.

We do an ice breaker: How many of you have pets? I ask.

Sam* raises his hand. 

“I have a little dog, he’s part…”

“Poodle?!” Adam* interrupts.

“No, he’s part…”

“Beagle?” 

“No, he’s part hot dog dog and…”

“Terrier?”

“NO! He’s part hot dog dog and chi…”

“He’s a chihuahua!”

“NO! I HAVE A CHIWEENIE!”

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Beatitude (Supreme Blessedness)

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Today was the fourth day of summer school (I’m teaching a 2nd and 3rd grade combo class).  We hadn’t even gotten to the fun stuff yet (math Bingo with M&Ms and vocabulary skits) when one second grader beamed and said, “I love summer school!”

“What part?” I asked.

“All of it!”

Her gratitude was intense and contagious. Other students murmured in agreement. Summer school is the bomb. 

She could have complained about waking up, getting dressed and going to school.

She could have dreaded doing math (again).

She could have complained and compared herself to other kids who are going on vacations to California and beyond.

But she was completely present. She was 100% here with 16 other kids and me and we had a great time.

 

Legacy

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Parakeet – Daily Painting Challenge (Animals, Day 5)

Sitting with my daughter “Bunny” by the pool

we talk about Kate Spade’s suicide and sadness we’ve never known

Bunny’s hair is fanned all over the pool deck, her clear eyes to the sky

Spade wrote a letter to her 13-year-old daughter

telling her it wasn’t her fault

my words ride the waves of the pool and get sucked into the filter

Looking at Bunny, the note seems an especially cruel gesture

In the distance, we can hear a woodpecker on aluminum siding

The Squamate

 

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His food went directly to his tail, apparently.    (Day 3 of 31)

School is out and I’m preparing to teach summer school at a new site. I’ll be teaching 11 second graders and 6 third graders. Last night, I confided in my daughter (aka Wise Owl):

“I’m kinda scared of these kids.”

“Why? Aren’t they, like, five years old?”

“Seven! And some are eight!“

 

Teachers have an opportunity to take enrichment classes to make up for days we took during the Walk Out. #Red4Ed

I’m taking CPR. I wonder how much it’s changed since I took it way back in the day? 

 

 

 

No Two Are Alike

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“The middle one is pregnant,” says the husband.

Every zebra has unique stripe patterns – much like humans’ fingerprints. 

If we could just appreciate our singularity – and the originality of others, this world would be a more peaceful place.

I like Ram Dass’ observation: When we go out and see trees, we don’t judge them. We don’t say this one is better than that one. We appreciate every tree. We should do that with people. Appreciate every person. 

Judgmental people tend to judge themselves fiercely. They believe it makes them work harder and be better. In fact, judgmental people possess an insecurity and sometimes a level of self-hate that disables them to love others.

There is strife in America right now. There is a great divide. But ignorance is being met with consciousness and ultimately, awareness will win.