meaningful connections

the number of times i wrote that phrase, "meaningful connections", throughout my education degree would make you want to vomit. but actually, now that i think about it, i think it was perfectly proportional. i found myself typing that string of 21 letters and a space over and over.... soandso argues that it is important to.... in order for students to make meaningful connections with the content of their work, their peers, and their environment..." 

and i felt like a hack writing the same thing over and over. but i had to. because in the above sentence, the "soandso" can be replaced with the name of every educational theorist, philosopher, working teacher and downright nice guy that walked the planet in the last hundred years. (and that's alotta people.)

and my previous entry gave me a little mini aha moment (thanks oprah). i started by writing about that washer. the one that i removed from the shower head to fix the water pressure. and i made a (you guessed it) meaningful connection with my life. remove the washer. the thing that is making the water flow slowly. remove the washer.

sounds crazy and over-analytical, i know. but hear me out. i think that, no matter who you are, no matter how you're feeling -- whatever the overarching mood is in your life for the moment, we can all do with a bit of self-reflection. think about what it is that is preventing you from achieving something. whatever that something is. mine is simple. being able to be happy on my own. to make myself happy. so that i can make the most of this one wild and precious life unconditionally. and what is it that is preventing me from achieving it? well, i'm sure there are a few things. but the things that stand out most of all right now, are giving myself credit, feeling worthy, and being independent.

and since yanking that washer out of that showerhead, i've felt a gush of the latter. independence. i am capable, i am intelligent and i am perfectly able to control my own pathway. i don't need other people to do it for me (of course it is nice to have support and a bit of love along the way...) and knowing that, well, knowing that makes me feel good. which is a nice change from the previous couple'a months.

and speaking of nice changes...


that there's the gash.

this here's what we used to cover it. moxa. i just looked up the name of the colour in the hopes that it would make some meaningful connection to my life, but the best it came up with was an industrial ethernet service. well. whatever, universe. i don't even care.


this one was quite happy to supervise while this one rolled himself into a moxa-induced frenzy.

and no, the wall doesn't look perfect. there is still a noticeable mound where the scar now lies, running from top to bottom. but it's a bit of a battle wound. and in all of its imperfection, i love it.

and that's that.

-- R.