in the trees
watching intently –
wisdom
Written by bridgetjanejone
WATCH and LISTEN. Truth will be unveiled in time.
in the trees
WATCH and LISTEN. Truth will be unveiled in time.
WATCH and LISTEN. Truth will be unveiled in time.
Dang, this homeschooling thing is hard!
Millions of parents and guardians across the country have officially become “substitute teachers” as school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) have left them with the primary responsibility for continuing the education of their children. They are coordinating with teachers, getting lesson plans and assembling materials from online resources to support their academics. Parents are seeing just how difficult it can be to steer young minds during a learning episode, experiencing the joys of working with different learning styles and differentiating lessons (the process of breaking down a lesson using tailored instruction to account for the learning needs of diverse children). I hope this experience has given them a greater perspective on the overall teaching profession.
Since COVID-19, we live in a society where the grocery store and gas station attendants, garbage men, healthcare and EMS workers and teachers are being “valued” more than any celebrity or professional athlete.
It is under these circumstances that real systemic changes might take place within our modern educational indoctrination system. After all, since everyone professes a concern for the education of children, the interests of teachers should be the interests of parents. There is a common objective (educated children). Parents have been a teacher’s greatest ally but perhaps, going forward, it will not just be teachers in the front lines protesting and advocating for increased teacher salaries and an improved, safe work environment. Our “substitute teacher parents” will now be out there as well. There is a common objective!
Teachers + Parents = Educated Children
By now, I’m sure some parents are experiencing the real challenges of education. They may have one, two, or even three different students to lead during a learning episode understanding now that they don’t necessarily learn in the same way. Children are amazing little humans, with a wide range of gifts, talents, mental abilities and challenges. Teachers have been trained academically for this incredible opportunity but the realty of the profession (rubber meets the road) is not without real hardship and adversity too. Our “substitute teacher parents” will most likely see this first hand. For example, teachers may often have anywhere between 20-30 students depending on the school district (sometimes without additional classroom support). Substitute teacher parents, can you imagine this after your recent experience? Master teachers acquire the vital skills, assuming they survive the initiation process, to do it everyday, flawlessly, sacrificing both health and time to get the job done.
“Dang, this homeschooling is kicking my …”
Anonymous Parent
Homeschooling one child during coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)
So, the next time we hear about teachers protesting for basic work conditions and salaries, we hope the crowds across this country will be a lot BIGGER and LOUDER as “substitute teacher parents” join in support. Let’s prove the mantra, in both words and deeds, that children are our future.
Teachers + Parents = Educated Children
Parents and teachers must join forces for our children’s future.
“This is like a wash of a semester. They’re really just not learning anything and it’s hard. … What I learned is that when 6-year-olds see other 6-year-olds do things, then they do things. Like, they sit and they eat because there’s 25 other ones doing it. They stay at their desks and color because there’s 25 other ones doing it. At home, there’s not 25 other ones doing it. So, to get them to focus and realize they’re at home but yet they’re at school, it’s really been a challenge”
Halle Berry – Calls Homeschooling Her Kids A ‘Nightmare’
Rebranding Beauty
Women judge other women harsher than men ever do. Most will never admit it publicly. We profess an interest in expanding beauty standards but limit our acceptance of its many manifestations. Women of all races are uniquely beautiful with different features, shapes, hair textures and intellect. Self validation is the most important characteristic for genuine authenticity but many women still cling to outdated beauty definitions. Let’s review a few contradictory views on the subject.
At one time, plus sized models were somewhat invalidated but we are now embracing the full-figured woman as a super model. Dove’s Beauty Bar campaign, featuring real, authentic women, did a lot to further ignite this change. Bravo Dove! There is still public debate amongst women, however, related to acknowledging the beauty of the full figured women versus promoting obesity as beautiful without also pointing out the legitimate heath concerns associated with this condition. Both observations are valid but some women resist the inclination to seek out common ground without accusations. Our beauty standards can include being both BODACIOUS in stature and one being healthy.
Woman of color are publicly embracing their beauty in its wide range of skin textures and tones. Cosmetic companies have witnessed this sea change and aggressively expanded their color pallets to accommodate these beauties. It also makes great business sense to do so (lots mo money honey). Yet the usage of skin bleaching products globally tells a different story about how women of color really feel. No one likes an uneven skin tone due to acne scars, hyperpigmentation, rosacea etc. but to bleach one’s entire completion reveals much more about self. Skin bleaching is a world wide, cultural phenomenon.
Smart & Cute
Friendly & Cute
Many celebrities, authors and bloggers (myself included aka pretty for a black girl) tell stories of darker hued girls and women feeling less attractive than their lighter complexion sisters. While these lighter hued beauties share stories of being mistreated as well. Each group has their experiences with the other, sometimes fraught with misunderstandings, strife and competition. Sisterhood is broken before it even has a chance to form. The conflict is much deeper and primal. It is really quite disturbing to realize that we still are unable to see or appreciate the beauty in them all.
Confident & Cute
For the sake of discussion, maybe women, as a collective, should form a coalition to REBRAND BEAUTY STANDARDS to be all encompassing, rejecting past restrictions on what it should look like (not male influenced). Let’s first start by placing the value on divine womanhood and reject the idea that only the young can be beautiful. Reviewing how we perceive “aging into beauty” might be the catalyst to help shatter past mental hang ups and prejudices. We will still have cultural preferences but the beauty of mature, divine womanhood cannot be limited to just exterior features. This type of woman is far more than her appearance. Her internal beauty is by far richer (more precious than gold cliche) because it is not lost even as she ages. Youthful beauty is powerful but it will fade in time leaving its owner lost especially if nothing else has been cultivated from within. If we can embrace the mature woman’s beauty (gray hair, smile lines, wisdom, loving spirit, laugh, intellect etc.), all other narratives might just dissolve organically. Ladies, we get to control the beauty narrative going forward. Imagine that…..
*
My Soul Has A Hat
I counted my years
& realized that I have
Less time to live by,
Than I have lived so far.
I feel like a child who won a pack of candies: at first he ate them with pleasure
But when he realized that there was little left, he began to taste them intensely.
I have no time for endless meetings
where the statutes, rules, procedures & internal regulations are discussed,
knowing that nothing will be done.
I no longer have the patience
To stand absurd people who,
despite their chronological age,
have not grown up.
My hat is authentically BOLD.
My time is too short:
I want the essence,
my spirit is in a hurry.
I do not have much candy
In the package anymore.
I want to live next to humans,
very realistic people who know
How to laugh at their mistakes,
Who are not inflated by their own triumphs
& who take responsibility for their actions.
In this way, human dignity is defended
and we live in truth and honesty.
No more peaking beneath my hat. All eyes on ME.
It is the essentials that make life useful.
I want to surround myself with people
who know how to touch the hearts of those whom hard strokes of life
have learned to grow with sweet touches of the soul.
Yes, I’m in a hurry.
I’m in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.
I do not intend to waste any of the remaining desserts.
I am sure they will be exquisite,
much more than those eaten so far.
My goal is to reach the end satisfied
and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience.
We have two lives
& the second begins when you realize you only have one.
Written By Mário de Andrade
Perfect in my imperfection. Cleansed and renewed.
Justice u/n/v/e/i/l/e/d
April Fools’ Day falls on the first of the month. Its historical roots are uncertain but the holiday is generally thought of as a time for practical jokes, for better or worse. Most are usually harmless. The same intention still resonates in 2020 but perhaps more than ever, the joke is really on us. The punchline is much more serious this time. As a collective, Lady Justice seems to be rearing her beautiful head to cast judgment on humanity holding us accountable (responsible with consequences) for our actions.
Justice is here.
*Reward *Return *Payment *Recompense *Gift
Are you balanced in mind, body and soul?
Did you treat others as you would want done to
you or someone you loved?
We may all be asked to account for our past choices (decisions and non-actions) and the impact they’ve had on ourselves, others and the world. For example, how did you react during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)? Were you fair, honest or principled in your efforts to provide for your safety and the well being of others? Did you overreact and panic allowing fear to justify your greed, selfishness, and cruelty during this life changing world wide event? Perhaps you turned inward to your faith in a higher power or reconnected to your interest in science to understand this world health crisis? Did you sacrifice and practice social distancing for the sake of everyone?
*Fairness *Equity *Fair Play *Honor *Objectivity
*Honesty *Righteousness *Trustworthiness
*Incorruptibility *Uprightness
*Integrity
All of our actions will unveil aspects of our values and character. What will be your score as a human, thus far? How will the justice scales balance for you?
Justice is here.
Injustice Guilt Dishonor Corruption Cruelty Envy Exploitation
Bias Iniquity Jealousy Misdeed Offense Disgrace Wrong Manipulation
Caution: Life can be both sweet and bitter (high and low vibration). April’s content will present truthful expressions of our collective human experience. Justice is here. Prepare to be triggered.
WHAT IF
There is so much fear, and perhaps rightfully so, about COVID-19.
And, what if…
If we subscribe to the philosophy that life is always working out for us, that there is an intelligence far greater than humans at work…
That all is interconnected.
What if…
the virus is here to help us?
To reset.
To remember.
What is truly important.
Reconnecting with family and community.
Reducing travel so that the environment, the skies, the air, our lungs all get a break.
Parts of China are seeing blue sky and clouds for the first time in forever with the factories being shut down.
Working from home rather than commuting to work (less pollution, more personal time).
Reconnecting with family as there is more time at home.
An invitation to turn inwards — a deep meditation — rather than the usual extroverted going out to self-soothe.
To reconnect with self — what is really important to me?
A reset economically.
The working poor. The lack of healthcare access for over 30 million in the US. The need for paid sick leave.
How hard does one need to work to be able to live, to have a life outside of work?
To face our mortality — check back into “living” life rather than simply working, working, working.
To reconnect with our elders, who are so susceptible to this virus.
And, washing our hands — how did that become a “new” thing that we needed to remember. But, yes, we did.
The presence of Grace for all.
There is a shift underway in our society — what if it is one that is favorable for us?
What if this virus is an ally in our evolution?
In our remembrance of what it means to be connected, humane, living a simpler life, to be less impactful/ more kind to our environment.
An offering from my heart this morning. Offered as another perspective. Another way of relating to this virus, this unfolding, this evolution.
It was time for a change, we all knew that.
And, change has arrived.
What if…
~ Gurpreet K. Gill March 11, 2020
Vogue Knows … Finally
But it will take a village to reshape young brainwashed minds.
All things are possible …
But does it rhyme tho?
Poetry. Floetry. Everyone has an opinion about what makes a poem a poem. Whether traditional, modern or urban … short or long … good or bad … we all may think differently. I am open, saying YES to all its many forms (Free Verse, Haiku, Acrostic, Cinquain, Limerick, Sonnet, Blank Verse etc.) as you shall see. Whatever resonates for me, I’ll post. So, hope you enjoy.
BIGGIE SMALLS
For your listening pleasure … one of my favorite songs.
3ACTunveiled 