Jetset.
The past couple months have been…a b l u r r.
I stopped my Picture a Day project in February. Once a project that is for fun starts to become a chore, it’s time to stop. So I did. I will post up through 02/11 though once I have a chance to catch up. School has never been more crazy and for non-academic reasons too. But as at Cal, I am learning probably more outside of the classroom than I ever will inside of it (as a student anyway). Leadership, management, professionalism, organizational, interpersonal skills. All of these only come through experience, not casebooks.
As the Lenten season approaches, I need to rediscover my faith and live it out loud. Predictably, now that I know what my commitments will be for next year (teaching Legal Writing, journal work…all of these things which seemed like they would help clarify my future once I received/accepted the opportunities), I look into the next few years of my life and still only see fog. I say it’s predictable only in the sense that it has become predictable that things are unpredictable. What a quandary. But if law school has taught me anything, it’s that I cannot always be in control. I can only do my best and somehow, I am so lucky and blessed that it will work out.
This afternoon I head to New York to catch a flight to Salt Lake City. I’m really excited to have a couple days in powder with one of the earliest loves of my life, Crystal.
For now, I’ll leave out the more routine changes to my life as EiC and a couple other defining opportunities. But know that I’m living life at full-speed while still trying to stop and smell the roses. Now, I’m off to Spring Break 2011.
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No. 1.49
Placeholder until tomorrow.
It’s almost Christmas folks…Happy Holidays!
Update (January 9, 2011) – Sadly, I am putting updates on hiatus due to work on http://pennapalsa.org/conference/2011/. Won’t stop for finals or anything else, but will stop for Conference. Will try to update as I go in order to avoid a photo dump later, but no promises! Hope you all are having a great start to the New Year.
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No. 1.48
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No. 1.47
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No. 1.45
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No. 1.44
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No. 1.43
Currently feeling that “sense of possibility.” Mix that with the belief or disillusion (whatever gets the job done) that I can do everything and get it right…and that about sums up my life right now.
Comment. Mediations. Reading. Emails. Conference Planning. Editing for people. Moots. Traveling. Exercising. Assignments for classes. Meetings. Meetings. Meetings. Playing. Sleeping. Blogging? Yup, all possible. Add it to the list.
I’ve also been on a cooking/baking spree. It’s nice. Is this the calm before the storm? Strangely, something tells me no. I think I’ve just grown up a bit more and learned how to take things one step at a time and in stride. This is probably akin to Senior year at Berkeley, which I loved. Keep me busy and I’ll do better. Hope all is well with you during this busy season too, reader. The holidays are right around the corner. Time to pop in that Charlie Brown Christmas cd…
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The History of the Blog
It’s funny how the world of blog has evolved. Including for me. I remember starting off on sites like Xanga. And now, it’s even easier to stay plugged in. I know where my friends are and what they are generally doing, even if it’s been years since we last spoke or saw each other. It’s overall a nice thing.
I used to have a knack for writing down my own thoughts and it was, much like it is now, for my own edification or purposes. I never post anything that I don’t feel comfortable with readers knowing anyway. And I don’t blog to try and gain a following or consistent readers, it’s just a space to jot down thoughts. My first blog ranged from journal type writing to various observations about the world from the eyes of a eighteen to twenty something year old. Then once I joined TFA, I wanted to start another space. Somewhere to log my adventures as a teacher. And now here I am, smack in the middle of law school. Posting way more pictures than text in this visual stage of my bloggereer. As I walked, in the dreary rain, to Center City tonight. I thought to myself, wow, how the hell did I end up in Philadelphia? Walking to dinner. In the rain.
Isn’t it strange? Was it a series of decisions? Was it my plan? It was always His plan. Today simply was one of those days where even a snapshot won’t help me to remember even close to each rich detail. For example, I went to Municipal Court to mediate a private criminal complaint. The parties stole my heart. Sometimes, people are so silly. This complaint started off as something silly. What’s more, we even know we are silly and yet still continue to do silly things. It’s stupid.
After drafting a resolution and waiting for approval from the court, one of the parties asked me why I decided to move to Philadelphia and stop teaching. The question really took me by surprise. It wasn’t the content of the question that took me by surprise but rather the significance of the question’s effect on me. It hit me how little I talk about my day to day experiences as a teacher. It’s such a huge part of me, but not something that really comes up with my law school friends in any large amount of detail. No one can really share or fully understand what happened in my classroom between me and my kids except me, my students, and some of my fellow teachers. As such, sometimes it’s easy to forget that it really happened. I know it sounds crazy since SO much happened during those two years, but sometimes it was probably so much that it’s easy to forget that was my life back then. To some extent, mediation clinic reminds me of those days. It was no big deal, it was just life. And now, life is different. But I do know that there are some things that you can’t understand without experiencing. And I am grateful for the experiences that I may not have an occasion to otherwise have without my students.
I got a random email (note: non-college application or recommendation letter related since I’ve been getting tons of those) today from one of my students. He said he just wanted to check on me, that’s all. That is love.
Anyway, after the mediation, I went to one of my latest favorite places in Philly, Reading Terminal Market. There is so much going on in this one place, it’s great. Everything from fish to cookies to produce. I picked up a cake for my dear friend and then headed home after deciding against making all sorts of purchases since I would probably have dropped something trying to get home with a cake, umbrella, and other items in tow. I’ll have to go back again soon. It’s a good place to just walk around and lose track of time.
Another memorable moment today was in the subway. One lady told me she liked my boots. This led to us chatting briefly and she told me that she was out of school now, working at a restaurant. But then she quickly added that she was soon to be a business owner. I am such a believer in possibility. I feel like anything reasonable is attainable through hard work, dedication, and the right heart/mindset and I will believe it to the point that I would believe without a shadow of a doubt that that woman was planning to open her massage, spa, physical therapy, juice bar shop any day now. But today, I felt a kernel of doubt in my mind.
How long is “soon to be?” Would the business be successful? Would she ever open the business? Or would it just f a d e into nothing? A dream deferred, if you will.
George Bernard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them.” Our outlook on life is so important. I read today that our minds are analogous to soil. Neither cares what we plant in it. But both will certainly grow and give back what we plant, without question. So plant good seeds. And as I head toward a clearer end point and the start of my first indefinite move in life, I’m going to try to continue to remember that it’s up to me to make my ideas or desires happen. Seek to find.
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No. 1.42
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