Here I Am!

Hahahahah! I'm writing my very first Blog. You can tell from the title of the BLOG and the title of this POST, that I know little of what I am doing... I meant to title the post, "Here I Am," not realizing that my blog is the overarching title of the collection of my posts. Entering a learning curve, but now, hopefully, I'm getting the hang of it. And so...

Here I am.

I love writing and reading and I really hope that blogging will help improve my writing skills. Great. You might be thinking that. You might really be thinking, "Great - I'm reading her blog, like a guinea pig waiting to see if the spinning wheel actually takes me anywhere." To that thought, I say to you... "Yeah, maybe."

I love starting things. And I'm really good at starting more things than I am able to finish. But somehow, in starting this blog, I'm hoping I'll be tapping into the language part of my brain, the critical thinking, the awareness of audience (whoever you are, once you start gathering, er... following) and I will be able to sharpen my focus on my dreams and goals and in how I live my everyday life.

I believe that about writing and reading and thinking and communication - that in putting ourselves out there into real relationships with life, with God, and with ourselves, we somehow follow our dreams and help our visions come true.

A few years ago, before my house fire, I created a VISION Board. Got the idea from watching my daughter's DVD of The Secret and an episode of Oprah. I still have that Vision Board - with black soot and the smell of campfire - and so much of it has already come true. I put a pic of someone running - getting into shape - and I almost ran my first 5K. I haven't given up - I will accomplish that. Another image is of a woman sitting in a room surrounded by bookshelves - I have a room like that in my new house. And an image of a family around a dinner table - my relationship with my children has been improving ever since, and now it's not as unusual for us to be sitting around the dinner table sharing a meal. And... because at the time, I was struggling with my singleness and longing for a loving relationship with a good and godly man, I included a sappy image of a couple sitting along the edge of a lake, holding hands. In two weeks, I will celebrate a first year of marriage with the sweetest man in the whole wide world. There are other images I'm still working on... images of painting, photography, hiking in the mountains (oh - did that on our honeymoon!) and one that represents completing a PhD. Guess I should have included an image for writing a thesis, but I have no doubt I (by the grace of God) will make those dreams happen too.

I believe in Vision Boards as a tool for achieving dreams. Somehow, connecting the part of my brain that holds images with the part of my brain that processes language, allows me to tap into my spiritual self and find ways to live a good and purposeful life. Maybe that's just crazy, but I believe it.

I realized with the Writer's Notebooks I use as part of my classroom practice (the topic of my thesis, btw) that including images on the cover could be a kind of vision board. I started out by asking my students to include at least 3 images representing each of the following: a strength, a challenge they would like to overcome, and an affinity. I created those kinds of images... but last year I realized that I was also creating something, very much like a vision board. It looked similar to the goals and dreams I had symbolized with images on my vision board.

Well... see for yourself:

Last Fall I improved on my use of time and being on time... and developed the habit of posting to my school webpage everyday, so that students and parents had access to daily assignments and handouts via the internet.

Last Spring I became an activist - didn't really intend to storm the capital, I first acted in behalf of our school, my friend, and against breathing in asphalt roofing fumes - but then our last legislative session happened and I wrote more letters than ever to the President, Governer, and all my representatives.

This one is my personal Writer's Notebook.... :)

(Wishing I knew how to make them line up horizontally and not take up so much space.)

So... here I am and I believe in visioning the life I want to live. I also believe in writing my story. Let's see if this blog will become another medium for me to do just that.

In the meantime.... May your visions be with you!