Catching Up

I love calendars, it's easy to look back and get a sense of how the week went as a concept:

Monday: Living Life Passionately, dinner with Tim who attended the intro and walked away with the possibility of being fun and playful. This is where he is at his best when he generates a sense of lightness around him - his eyes have that extra twinkle and he is witty, funny, and easy to be with. I had the opportunity to acknowledge Tim in front of everyone at the beginning, it meant a lot to me that he came to check out what makes the world I get to play in.

During that night we looked into what is the purpose worthy of our lives. What do we do day by day that pulls us and creates a purpose for us - as opposed to living through the filter of what is the purpose of my life, what do I choose to live my life for? What are my values? It impacts the content of my conversations since I choose to live my life to make a profound difference, have an impact and be contribution to my community. I get to live moment by moment and have integrity to that and be present to how my words carry weight. Oprah said: we owe it to our Creator to maximize our potential, and that's how she lives her life.

I hear "stories" about someone called Tom whom I have not yet met. My share is that Tom is being who he is being without realizing how much of a jerk he creates himself out to be for everyone around him. They see him clearly as a narcisstic, selfish jerk saying the meanest and most inconsiderate thing possible. Clearly Tom can never understand why others don't like him. This would be his blind spot. We all have ours.

If he could enter the conversation of... consider there is something in life you are doing - like making someone wrong, being right, looking good at whatever cost... like that, what is the payoff? Why do you choose to continually do that? What are you getting to be or have by being that way? By making someone wrong, you get to be right.... that kind of thought. Then, there is a huge impact that is created by continually being that way. All the things that Tom so desperately wants for himself, closeness, relatedness, affinity, full self-expression, love, acceptance is denied in that moment. If he could have the awareness of the cost, the impact, then he could take the opportunity to give up that behavior.

Behaviors we carry through our lives are survival tools we invented at an early age that worked when we were little, and we live as adults thinking they still work. They do, they help us survive - as opposed to live, thrive, be alive, be fully expressed. When we get to identify survival behavior patterns as something that no longer works, then we can give that up (in the moment, and moment by moment) and invent for ourselves a different way of being that lights us up. Invent as opposed to change - because changing is repeating the same differently.

See, that gives us a future to live into, something that inspires, and generates a way of truly connecting with someone at an adult grown up level. The moment I gave up that my life is a blur I got connected to I am responsible for all my unanswered emails, phone calls, and letters that need to be written. I immediately became connected with communication at all different levels and nailed the jobs, quickly, efficiently, and effectively. It felt wonderful.

Tuesday: Went to Rhythm Room with Mike, did swing dancing - loved it, acknowledged Morgan for his way cool shirt, had a nice chat going with Michelle and Barb, later with Delores, Gary, Mark, and Mike. Just a fun, light hearted evening. The band was amazing.

Had Shaelyn come in for lunch detention, and she asked if I still loved her, entered into the conversation about unconditional love, loving her and not the behavior, and the Nina story about her friend who never wants to be married because of the strings attached - and that she was raised with the sense that love comes with strings, when it never does. Anyway, what's interesting is my lassie squealed on her friend whose parent is trying to get me fired. My red flag went up surruptiously.

I called the mother on the pretext of your daughter is absent a lot and I am concerned and frustrated because she has done minimal work and we are at progress report time. Is there something I need to know? Yes, mom says daughter came home with sheets of stories of how wicked and cruel I am to her in class - flabbergasted, I apologized profusely if I came across that way, and by conversation's end, mom was very clear that I was a cool, caring teacher.

Mom came by at the end of the day to pick up work for junior, her son (cute, hottie senior) came by and I enrolled him into popping into daughter's 4th hour to admire her ongoing art work so she would feel more motivated by it, and also have him as her trophy brother where the girls would swoon over him, thereby elevating her status within the class.

When daughter is absent again, I will call and offer to pop by the driveway to drop off work and give special instructions so the young lassie can stay on top of her work. Mom, brother, and myself felt complete, and I got to have a terrific weekend because my integrity was restored around that conversation.

Wednesday: Such a relief to stay home, be home, and chill. What few kids showed up at school were great, took a little while longer to settle. Last few classes we had presentations by FIDM which made it easy as a teacher. I can now see why teachers choose guest speakers and videos on the day before break. Good move.

Thursday: Thanksgiving day, sent out bunches of cards affording me the opportunity to acknowledge, thank, and be thanked in turn. Really fun. Attended Thanksgiving with Mike and mutual friends - lovely evening.

Friday: catch up day, really wanted to stay home all day and do all those mundane chore things, listen to my music, clean, take care of bills, write Christmas cards, early night.

Saturday: caught up and did my 7 collages - whipped those up and have clearer insight as to how to create a conversation and keep it out there in creation. Powerful. Finished writing Christmas cards with acknowledgments, made a newsy letter to go with it and photos of Nina, me, and Mike, and who I am today, right now, for myself and others.

Sunday: yes, it rolls around again, I've looped back to Sunday. Deenie call, Nina call, and now catching up with the Blog. This coming weekend will be the last of the Wisdom weekend, closing of this part of my Blog - all the homework is complete.

Stage 5 of the conversation is enhance, flood. I'm thinking this week of taking my acknowledgement totally into the community and letting it take off, like pay it forward. So after this is posted I am creating mini certificate/ticket/token type papers with comments like: Your smile made my day! You are great! You are extraordinary! You are the best! Just a slew of them. Hand them out to my students and anyone on campus and it becomes their job to pass that acknowledgement to someone else - either spoken or as that slip of paper.

Maybe: I am loved, I am precious, I am adored, I am cherished....

I'll let you know how that works out.
In the meantime
you are perfect, whole, and complete