When the teacher becomes a student...

This stream of conciousness post is just bursting out of me, so I'll just write, and you'll get it straight from the heart that way, okay?

Funny thing about blogging... I'm always thinking about what I want to tell, but not necessarily getting quiet and still enough to listen to what I want to know, and, more importantly, need to know... or better yet... might not know I want/need to know.

Make sense?

I was thinking about my Pay it Forward projects, and realized that I'm always thinking about what I want to make, but not necessarily what the people I'm doing it for would actually want to have.

Well, after teaching and preaching all the time, I spent the past week as a student.

Of everything.

Well, maybe I'm lying a little bit. What I did, was slow down (no, that's a lie, too)... we moved this week... to what is an incredibly great new apartment. I always felt that living in a free-standing house in New York City was an incredibly inefficient (environmentally, logistically, socially) and expensive way to live, and we are soooo not do-it-ourselfers...

So, with much drama and many glitches, we finally moved.

On meeting the neighbors:

Who knew there were this many nice people in this city???? We have had people offer to help us with EVRYTHING... hold open doors, introduce themselves, offer help with the kids, disposal of boxes and wrapping stuff... the welcome has been incredibly warm. I really didn't know people could be this nice.

This building is in a rapidly changing neighborhood and seems to have no racial, religious, or cultural majority. It seems to be an incredibly tolerant and respectful atmosphere. After 3 PM on weekdays, the building is alive with children. It is so great that everyone is being noisy at our noisy time! What a gift to be able to give our kids... they can run around freely in this space, in a way they never could in the house. No stairs!

The move was a lot of work!!!!

I've always been a person who tried to be great at everything. Guess what? I'm not! And there is probably a good reason for that. We all have different talents
and abilities. I've lived long enough to know what my main talents are, and I've chosen to embrace them. I have wasted so much time worrying about why I'm not better at this or that... who cares? I'm not great at baking - but my mother is. I can't remember birthdays to save my life, but my aunt and sis-in-law are pros at it. (Shoot! Tomorrow is her birthday!) I have a hard time organizing all of my sewing stuff, and professional info. It is always a mess. Guess what? No pictures of my studio are likely after the initial setup photos, if I post them.


So what does this mean?

I leraned the importance of listening to people, appreciating their unique talents and abilities, and discovered that even someone who doesn't speak your language, may, in fact "speak your language".

So I'm slowing down a bit now.

I took an actual nap today. (20 minutes!!!)

I will aim to be more patient, make a conscious effort to be a student, and find quiet moments once in a while.