Using My Voice

I keep a blog because I think it is important for me to use my voice for good. Even when I don't have much to say or am not feeling terribly articulate or creative, it matters to me that I prioritize my head and heart. There is something so easy about re-tweeting powerful messages (via my account @lovenonviolence), but I appreciate the opportunity to express myself  in my own words as well. I love to be a voice for my passions in person, and in this digital age it feels equally important to express myself over the "public" space of social media. So humble though my efforts may be, it is my commitment more than my product that I am aiming to nurture. The more that I practice crafting my message, the stronger that message will be!

Alignment

One lesson I have learned from my decade in the field of education is how important it is that I feel an alignment of my personal and professional lives. There are only so many hours in a day, so I want to make darn sure that I am making the most of each of them. Having work that I care about helps a great deal with that. As an educator, I feel I must put my whole self into my work in order to ensure that the students are having a transformative experience (because why work in education if you're not being transformative?!). I knew that working at a secular school was not for me because part of being fully present at work for me is having a spiritual dimension to what we do. I was a bit nervous to come to a Catholic school as a Quaker, but I was won over by Catholic Social Teaching. No one is a better model for Catholic social values than Pope Francis. He puts human dignity before all else and consistently acts in solidarity with the marginalized, even if that goes against popular Catholic opinion. So I was especially thrilled to see that he talked about the Quakers and our aligned values while he was in Philadelphia: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pope-independence-hall-speech-20150926-story.html. I love it when religion can bring us together instead of tear us apart!

Say Their Names

I posted last month about my love of the song "Hell You Talmbout" and its refrain of "say his/her name!" In order to prevent tragedies, victims cannot go nameless. Saying names and sharing narratives turns statistics into stories, and that is how we reach hearts.

But there is another kind of name that has been on my mind today. On Sunday for my brother's birthday I will run the Tunnel to Tower 5k. I was explaining to a colleague that it is in honor of a firefighter who lost his life while going above and beyond on 9/11. She asked what his name was and I had no idea. It was a good reminder of how much easier it can be to know a name for who and what society considers to be dangerous than to name those who stand up for what is beautiful and true. Stephen Siller is the hero in whose honor I run on Sunday. In the future I will try to be more intentional about spreading the light of those who act from a place of love and make the world a better place.

Yesterday Pope Francis held up the models of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton as such examples. True to form, he held up positive models rather than focusing on what not to do. May their strength and peace be a model for us all.

Feedback

I have gotten more feedback on character traits to work on in the past week than I had in my first two years in this job. Between my mindfulness work and the school environment, I have managed not to obsess, but to reflect in a way that is healthy and ends with a follow-up plan. The key is the trust that is present in the school. I know that everyone is acting with love in her heart and the best interests of students on her mind whenever applicable. It is a wonderful reminder that we are all such different people and it is important to 'see' each other and treat each person as a unique manifestation of God's Love. Each piece of feedback is also an invitation to grow personally and/or professionally.

Peacebuilding

Of my many identities, I think that my identity as a peacemaker may be one of the ones of which I am most proud, as exemplified earlier this year when the Social Action leaders had to identify a peacebuilder they admired and some started talking about me and I nearly lost it. I take my peacebuilding philosophy seriously. I even read and loved the book Love Your Enemies because I consider bringing peace to even my most challenging relationships to be a part of my living my life with integrity. I believe that we can't chose the moments that we live a life of peace, but we must reflect peace in all we do. Our internal peace through work like mindfulness and meditation allow us to engage in all situations with more peace in our spirits. And peace is contagious!

North Star

Today I was in a board meeting for a school and the Head of School asked, "What is our north star? For what do we serve as the north star?" I found those questions stunning. I think often of sustaining and shining my inner light, but the idea of a north star pushes the idea of light even further. It is a mash-up of the spiritual concept of Light with Jim Collins' hedgehog concept. Be the best you that you can be and let that be a beacon for others. Certainly Pope Francis does that for peace and justice. I decided in that moment that the north star that I follow is walking cheerfully over the earth answering to that of God in everyone. The north star that I want to represent is integrity. It seems as though having an intentionality, or at least awareness, around our Light can only help it to shine brighter.

Learning from Students: Love and Service

Anyone who works with young people know that they have a tendency to open up our understandings about the world. That happened to me today at our end of retreat mass. The students who were in charge of the “call to Prayer” put the word “service” or “love” on each person’s hand as they walked in. The students then had us hold hands with someone who had the other word, providing a lesson about how service and love are inextricably linked. It was crystal clear through that visual that the two provide a chain - service should come from a place of love AND bring more love into the world. That shared belief is what unites my Quaker faith with my Catholic school. 

Curation

I think I'm a pretty good curator. I curate poetry, inspirational notes, and my own life in the form of journals. Even tweeting can be a form of curation. Some would call it hoarding, and I couldn't hold it against them. However, sometimes my inspiration comes from an older version of me as a result of this curation. Sometimes people make fun of the curation we all do on social media, but my philosophy is that there is little downside to having a record of our best moments and memories. Perhaps they can help us to be our best selves.

The Gift of Time

I read this article today, "Resolved: Writing is a job" by Ann Pratchett, and I felt both vindicated and inspired. It is hard to develop a discipline around time. I am addicted to email, and that sucks up many hours of every day. I have read all the articles about how we're most effective when we only check our email two to three times a day (I just spent five minutes writing this sentence because I checked my email in the middle of it!). But to be fully our best selves, we need to operate not out of habit, but out of what we have determined is our personal best practice best on our priorities based on our values. I'm currently reading the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, which makes it clear that we are slaves to our habits until we actively take control of them. That is exactly what Ann Pratchett did, and that is what I plan to make the project of my fall. Time is a gift that I seek to squander no more!

Authenticity

Two weeks ago my best friend got married in a what can only be described as a social justice wedding ceremony. I hope they publish their vows so that others can learn just how deeply a wedding can reflect a couple. I was telling my friend that it reminded me of a Sonya Tayeh dance - so authentic that it could never be confused for anyone else’s. What a good reminder of how powerful being our authentic selves can be!

On 9/11

On 9/11 I had just started at Wellesley. It was our second week of class. I had come out of a Classical Mythology class when a woman I had done service week the week before said to me, “A bomb just went off at the White House. People you know are definitely dead.” Much of my life is based around negative models, and she is one of them. I am an educator now and I would NEVER put my anxieties onto a student like that. It was the opposite of how I see my teaching; it was wholly selfish. 

I also remember feeling nervous for Muslims. I knew they would be blamed for what happened and I knew that wasn’t fair. I knew that America was not blameless and that our anger would only feed into cycles of violence. So much of my life now is built around my being an activist, but it wasn’t then. I was just a person with a big heart who knew that there was a wrong side of history that I didn’t want to be on. 

On this day of tragedy and remembrance, I hold in my heart all those who suffered and continue to suffer. I also recommit myself to being a part of the solution, to doing my part to make the world a better place. I reflect on the query hanging outside Friends Meeting of Washington - how can my life remove the causes for war? - with the aspiration that my life speak the answer.

The Power of Love

I had a very special summer. I traveled more than I ever had before and felt such strong love everywhere that I went. It was a reminder that we carry love with us wherever we go and that that love is powerful. In Tanzania, it was a contagious love of life. In Rwanda it meant a dedication to unity that would prevent genocide. In Boston and Philadelphia my spirit was renewed through the love I share with my friends. At Tranquil Space, through yoga, I connected to both a love of my body and to a love of all beings.  In Seattle I got to witness the lifelong commitment between my best friend and the love of her life. In Frostburg it was a renewed commitment to my faith and values. In Martha's Vineyard and New York it was the sustaining love of family. Whatever its shape, I aim to maintain this love in all I do this year. SR is an easy place to build on the summer's momentum because love is talked about openly and a major foundation to all that we do. I can't wait for another year of infusing love into my class and the social awareness and action we engage in at school!