Thoughts on Life Inside and Outside of Room 26
TravelTrace...5/5/2013 Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends. Why do I travel to the UK? Books. English. Culture. Heritage. Tea.
Literature When I was growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia [there's a hint there, even] I studied primarily British Literature. All through high school my courses focused on writers from the UK - Wm. Shakespeare, Johnathan Swift, Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, H. G. Wells, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Then, there are the poets: Tennyson, Browning, Chaucer, Milton, Pope, Blake. These were my stories. The only North American writers that I ever encountered were famed Canadian L. M. Montgomery who graciously penned Anne of Green Gables and Margaret Atwood, who wrote my favorite Alias Grace and very popular The Handmaid's Tale. After living in the imaginations of these UK writers, it is always a wonder for me to visit their lands, and walk where they did. I can share this anecdotally: The first time I was in Canterbury Cathedral, I was 17 years old. I knew that St. Thomas Becket was murdered there, and some of the history, and was awed at the size and scope of the place. After teaching Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales for years, I went there with another English teacher and 11 students. I was amazed, silenced, and profoundly thankful for the opportunity to visit once again; what an extraordinary place. Language I really enjoy traveling to Britain because I don't have to worry about not speaking the lanugage. I have a little French - studied through my senior year in Canada - but it gets rough when I don't get to practice it regularly. It takes the edge off of travel like nothing else can. Culture and Heritage, and Tea My parents, my family, are Canadian. My mum was born and raised - for her youngest years - in The Netherlands. Her family fled the war and arrived in Canada when she was a young school girl. My father grew up on a farm in Alberta, Canada. We all share a history in Holland, and on one of our journeys, mum and I went to her childhood home. Although I grew up within five minutes of the US boarder crossing, I never had any strong ties to the US or this history here. I always thought of myself, and still do, as a Canadian: a tea drinking, Britain loving, sonnet knowing, outside dwelling, Union Jack loving, Royal Family watching kinda girl. Why the UK? I love the UK. I love that there is a City of London, inside of London. I love that Henry VIII lived in London, and his daughters, the queens Mary I and Elizabeth I. I love Princess Diana. I love the Thames as an old highway. I love the pinstripes, the tea and shortbread; a pint with some chips and a chat after work, as seen here. I love that the culture is close to what I know, but has evolved so much more, from so long ago. That is why I go.
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In the Dark Quiet Night, A Light4/11/2013 "And so may a slow I first heard John O'Donohue read his own poetry on NPR's radio program called "Speaking Of Faith" [now titled "On Being"] hosted by Krista TIppett. Deep in the night I was awakened by my 2 month old daughter, and as I comforted her, I listened to "The Inner Landscape of Beauty," quietly, on the radio. That night, in the darkness of that room, I became a listener and a reader of this quiet Irish poet and his wise words. My mum says that poetry is the fastest way to get your most powerful ideas out. This is certainly that, for me, when I read and am comforted by this poetry. By clicking on the title of the poem below, you can hear O'Donohue read it himself.
This last year, in April 2012, one of my students lost his mum, his second parent lost to disease. I was overwhelmed; for him, for her. The thought of leaving the unfinished business of a teenaged boy was not something that I could quite fathom. My mind could only see grief and sorrow and even rage and terror. Thinking about her loss made me shudder. What would I say to my boy if I were called away? Seeing the larger picture now that I am 12 months distanced from the loss, makes me wonder what other secrets walk into my trimester classroom. What wars fought? What mountains climbed? What terror lurks? It is grounding to remember, yea, to be reminded, that I am a teacher-learner in a community of humanity. I am a lover of English, words, ideas, and stories, but ultimately, I am a part of a human community. "Bannacht" ["Blessing"] On the day when The weight deadens On your shoulders And you stumble, May the clay dance To balance you. And when your eyes Freeze behind The grey window And the ghost of loss Gets into you, May a flock of colours, Indigo, red, green And azure blue, Come to awaken in you A meadow of delight. When the canvas frays In the currach of thought And a stain of ocean Blackens beneath you, May there come across the waters A path of yellow moonlight To bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours, May the clarity of light be yours, May the fluency of the ocean be yours, May the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow Wind work these words Of love around you, An invisible cloak To mind your life. “A New Year Blessing” Benedictus (To Bless The Space Between Us) For Courage When the light around you lessens And your thoughts darken until Your body feels fear turn Cold as a stone inside, When you find yourself bereft Of any belief in yourself And all you unknowingly Leaned on has fallen, When one voice commands Your whole heart And it is raven dark, Steady yourself and see That it is your own thinking That darkens your world, Search and you will find A diamond-thought of light, Know that you are not alone And that this darkness has purpose; Gradually it will school your eyes To find the one gift your life requires Hidden within this night-corner. Invoke the learning Of every suffering You have suffered. Close your eyes. Gather your kindling About your heart To create one spark. That is all you need To nourish the flame That will cleanse the dark Of its weight of festered fear. A new confidence will come alive To urge you toward higher ground Where your imagination will learn to engage difficulty As its most rewarding threshold! Farewell ...1/6/2013 If your actions inpsire other to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. It is quite a thing to say goodbye in a sudden moment.
We have plans, and ideas and things that we can get to tomorrow, but really there are things that we must get done today. I lost a friend, a leader, a mentor, a teacher, and a principal yesterday. He gave me a chance. He hired me here and I'm deeply saddened to know that he's gone. Here are some lessons that I learned from him:
I am...A teacher of students of British, World and Contemporary Literature. Archives
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