I stumbled upon a TED talk by Sarah Kay "A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E., teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States."
"If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... " began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of "B" and "Hiroshima."
The first few minutes of her speech is a poem that I totally loved, it will be totally worth your time titled if I should have a daughter, if you have the time to listen to her entire speech It was worth listening too. I bet she is such an inspiration to know personally!
"There is nothing more beautiful the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away."
"Put the star in starting over... and over."
"This world is made out of sugar it can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.”
Those are just a few lines that I love but it's difficult to pull out too many from the poem because litterally the entire poem is brilliant. She divides her journey into 3 steps:
1) I CAN do this.
2) I WILL do this.
3) Infusing the work you're doing with the specific things that make you... you. Because step three never ends.
This is a bit of a random post, but inspiration and wisdom come from all sources and when I find soemthing good I of course want to share it with you!
If you watch it please leave your comments & feedback in the comments below. Hope you enjoy!
I stumbled upon a TED talk by Sarah Kay "A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E., teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States."
"If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... " began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of "B" and "Hiroshima."
The first few minutes of her speech is a poem that I totally loved, it will be totally worth your time titled if I should have a daughter, if you have the time to listen to her entire speech It was worth listening too. I bet she is such an inspiration to know personally!
"There is nothing more beautiful the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away."
"Put the star in starting over... and over."
"This world is made out of sugar it can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.”
Those are just a few lines that I love but it's difficult to pull out too many from the poem because litterally the entire poem is brilliant. She divides her journey into 3 steps:
1) I CAN do this.
2) I WILL do this.
3) Infusing the work you're doing with the specific things that make you... you. Because step three never ends.
This is a bit of a random post, but inspiration and wisdom come from all sources and when I find soemthing good I of course want to share it with you!
If you watch it please leave your comments & feedback in the comments below. Hope you enjoy!
For my 25th birthday I made a list of 25 things to do before I turn 26and every few months I like to update the list with my progress. In two months I had accomplished 4 goals and now I have even more to cross off!
13. Get a new Tattoo. I’d been dreaming of getting my compass rose tattoo for at least a year, and am so excited to finally have it finished!
9. Build my Savings. I’ve finally reached a point where I can start building my savings to sustain my travels. This will be the account my student loans and residual bills will be paid from while I am out of the country. I’ve received a lot of questions about my financial planning, keep an eye out for a post soon and if there is a question you’d like answered please leave it in the comments below.
16. Watch a movie during Sundance. Can you believe I have lived in Utah for over a decade and never once have I been to a Sundance film?? I can now, getting tickets was such a process!
24. Document my Christmas ornaments. An aspect of my traveling dreams is that I can’t possibly travel with everything I own, as minimal as that may be. My Christmas ornaments are from my travels, that’s the souvenir I always buy for myself and they will be staying behind in my mothers care. I’ve now organized and photographed each ornament so in the event something happens to them I’ll have something to remember each of them. Christmas 2012 may have a ‘digital decorating’ of the tree too!
25. Go to a Utah Jazz basketball game. I hadn’t been to a game in several years and really wanted my list to incorporate a lot of ‘Utah’ activities.
15. Grow & Improve my Blog. This is a daily effort, and I’m thrilled with the shape that my blogging endeavor has taken. Among some of the latest developments has been:
For my 25th birthday I made a list of 25 things to do before I turn 26and every few months I like to update the list with my progress. In two months I had accomplished 4 goals and now I have even more to cross off!
13. Get a new Tattoo. I’d been dreaming of getting my compass rose tattoo for at least a year, and am so excited to finally have it finished!
9. Build my Savings. I’ve finally reached a point where I can start building my savings to sustain my travels. This will be the account my student loans and residual bills will be paid from while I am out of the country. I’ve received a lot of questions about my financial planning, keep an eye out for a post soon and if there is a question you’d like answered please leave it in the comments below.
16. Watch a movie during Sundance. Can you believe I have lived in Utah for over a decade and never once have I been to a Sundance film?? I can now, getting tickets was such a process!
24. Document my Christmas ornaments. An aspect of my traveling dreams is that I can’t possibly travel with everything I own, as minimal as that may be. My Christmas ornaments are from my travels, that’s the souvenir I always buy for myself and they will be staying behind in my mothers care. I’ve now organized and photographed each ornament so in the event something happens to them I’ll have something to remember each of them. Christmas 2012 may have a ‘digital decorating’ of the tree too!
25. Go to a Utah Jazz basketball game. I hadn’t been to a game in several years and really wanted my list to incorporate a lot of ‘Utah’ activities.
15. Grow & Improve my Blog. This is a daily effort, and I’m thrilled with the shape that my blogging endeavor has taken. Among some of the latest developments has been:
Etta James, the late, great and marvelous singer who brings passion and soul worldwide. Its a gift that she shared her talents and that they can remain in our lives while she may not. Mrs. James is one of my favorite old soul singers and this song seems like the perfect way to spend a cold sunday indoors.
Etta James, the late, great and marvelous singer who brings passion and soul worldwide. Its a gift that she shared her talents and that they can remain in our lives while she may not. Mrs. James is one of my favorite old soul singers and this song seems like the perfect way to spend a cold sunday indoors.
I love traditions! I have to admit the adjustment from living at home as a teenager and living on my own as a young adult has helped me realize how much I love traditions and so I’ve started to make my own traditions. However I’ve also realized that traditions take commitment and so I’ve learned a few tricks to selecting which traditions I want to keep and some that just didn’t make the cut.
These are three tips I like for deciding which traditions you want to maintain throughout the years to come.
1) Sentiment goes a long way. Traditions with a personal or sentimental value are more likely to last through the test of time. Otherwise it will get easier and easier for those participating to lose interest and the drive to fulfill the traditions year after year.
I collect ornaments for my Christmas tree when I travel. Now when I decorate my tree each year I remember all these amazing places I’ve been, who I was with, what I did the day I bought it and the stories behind the trip. It’s a fun and useful way to collect souvenirs and gives me something to look forward to during the sometimes lonely holiday season.
2) Not every tradition needs to be major. Include ‘little’ traditions like reading a book Christmas morning, watching a certain movie during the holiday season.
Each Thanksgiving day I watch the friend’s episode ‘with all the Thanksgivings’. Its about 30 minutes long and just what I need to get myself mentally ready for the day.
Another small tradition I have is to listen to River - Sarah McLachlan (Wintersong) - Watch more Videos at Vodpod. when I decorate my Christmas tree. It started from watching You've Got Mail and Meg Ryann talks about this song (the version by Joni Mitchell but I much prefer Sarah's version!) as she is decorating her tree and how much she loves and misses her mother and hangs a silver ice skate ornament. While visiting Minnisota I found a silver ice skate ornament and just had to get it! Can you see it in the picture above? (It's on the far right a little more than half up the tree)
3) Create flexible traditions. Maintaining traditions can be stressful especially the more stipulations you add and defined you make it. Instead of committing to something on a certain day (if the sentiment allows) opt for traditions that can adapt to your schedule each year.
I have made the tradition to watch White Christmas and Meet me in St. Louis during the holiday season. That way I don’t feel obligation on a given day or event & thus I can enjoy the tradition more when I get the craving for it. I've got an old soul, I just melt at the sound of Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. (just to name a few)
I stumbled upon an article called Family Change: Don't Cancel the Holidays!on Psychology Today where they discuss the importance of having and maintaining traditions. They talk about how traditions mimic cultural traditions, but on a smaller scale. The community can be comprised of a myriad of family, friends, co-workers ect. and we create a sense of identity from our traditions and the community they create. When traditions end it can affect our psyche and can often bring a sense of loss.
Without being a huge downer I will say I have definitely felt this, some of my favorite traditions have been lost in the shuffle of life and it breaks my heart a little (I'm wildly sentimental) so I’ve made sure that when I commit to a tradition, I make sure its one I can maintain and will be able to incorporate in my future… whatever and whoever that may include.
I love traditions! I have to admit the adjustment from living at home as a teenager and living on my own as a young adult has helped me realize how much I love traditions and so I’ve started to make my own traditions. However I’ve also realized that traditions take commitment and so I’ve learned a few tricks to selecting which traditions I want to keep and some that just didn’t make the cut.
These are three tips I like for deciding which traditions you want to maintain throughout the years to come.
1) Sentiment goes a long way. Traditions with a personal or sentimental value are more likely to last through the test of time. Otherwise it will get easier and easier for those participating to lose interest and the drive to fulfill the traditions year after year.
I collect ornaments for my Christmas tree when I travel. Now when I decorate my tree each year I remember all these amazing places I’ve been, who I was with, what I did the day I bought it and the stories behind the trip. It’s a fun and useful way to collect souvenirs and gives me something to look forward to during the sometimes lonely holiday season.
2) Not every tradition needs to be major. Include ‘little’ traditions like reading a book Christmas morning, watching a certain movie during the holiday season.
Each Thanksgiving day I watch the friend’s episode ‘with all the Thanksgivings’. Its about 30 minutes long and just what I need to get myself mentally ready for the day.
Another small tradition I have is to listen to River - Sarah McLachlan (Wintersong) - Watch more Videos at Vodpod. when I decorate my Christmas tree. It started from watching You've Got Mail and Meg Ryann talks about this song (the version by Joni Mitchell but I much prefer Sarah's version!) as she is decorating her tree and how much she loves and misses her mother and hangs a silver ice skate ornament. While visiting Minnisota I found a silver ice skate ornament and just had to get it! Can you see it in the picture above? (It's on the far right a little more than half up the tree)
3) Create flexible traditions. Maintaining traditions can be stressful especially the more stipulations you add and defined you make it. Instead of committing to something on a certain day (if the sentiment allows) opt for traditions that can adapt to your schedule each year.
I have made the tradition to watch White Christmas and Meet me in St. Louis during the holiday season. That way I don’t feel obligation on a given day or event & thus I can enjoy the tradition more when I get the craving for it. I've got an old soul, I just melt at the sound of Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. (just to name a few)
I stumbled upon an article called Family Change: Don't Cancel the Holidays!on Psychology Today where they discuss the importance of having and maintaining traditions. They talk about how traditions mimic cultural traditions, but on a smaller scale. The community can be comprised of a myriad of family, friends, co-workers ect. and we create a sense of identity from our traditions and the community they create. When traditions end it can affect our psyche and can often bring a sense of loss.
Without being a huge downer I will say I have definitely felt this, some of my favorite traditions have been lost in the shuffle of life and it breaks my heart a little (I'm wildly sentimental) so I’ve made sure that when I commit to a tradition, I make sure its one I can maintain and will be able to incorporate in my future… whatever and whoever that may include.
Day 9 – Favorite music from in another language/country?
I'd kinda forgotten that I haven't finished this challege yet, although I consider it most like a 15 post challenge not so much a 15 day challenge.
It was a bit tricky for me to come up with a song or music group that I like from another country because I don't really know any other languages fluently so the music is really more atmospheric and euphoric to me more than the quality of music it really is.
Do you know what I mean? Kinda like certain smells that bring you back to a significant place or memory, you can’t share that magical feeling with anyone it doesn’t translate.
I’ll attempt to paint a picture for you though…
During one of our trips to Moscow (which is about an 8 hour train ride north from Voronezh) we were visiting the Kremlin and debating on which tourist spots we should visit.
The best way I can think to explain the Moscow Kremlin is a bit in the same sense as Big Ben, its surrounded with government authorities, royal palaces & historic buildings except that its also like the United States White House because it is where the Russian President lives as well. Near the Kremiln is St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Alexander Garden & several other cathedrals.
St. Basil’s Cathedral is hands down my favorite Cathedral in all Russia. On our tour I remember our guide saying that each of the architects & painters were blinded after it was completed to insure its originality! I suppose it’s my favorite because it’s such an iconic cathedral & while I was waiting to leave & teach in Russia I would imagine myself standing in front of St. Basil’s so when I finally found myself standing right in front of it… there were no words. But that can be another story for another day. Back to the task at hand.
* all photos were taken during our trip except this one. My camera was broken but taking photos so I didn't know until I tried to print the photos and there was nothing there. broke my heart!
Touring the Kremlin. Cathedrals tend to all blend after a while especially if you’re visiting several in a day much less over a few months so I can’t tell you exactly which cathedral we were passing near when we began to hear the music.
From Left to Right these were my fellow teachers while I lived in Russia. (Wynter, Anne, Becca, Meredith, Heather, Kristin, Jade & Brittany)
As we got closer we begin to realize the beautiful music was coming from inside a cathedral and thus we followed as if it was a bread trail leading us home. We paid out ‘donation’ and headed inside. There we found a Russian Choir whose voices were amplified by the acoustics within the cathedral and we were all entranced with the moment we’d found ourselves in.
I’ve learned that some of the sweetest moments while traveling are most often the kind you couldn’t plan even if you wanted to.
Sure they were singing Russian & fancy Russian at that so there was little or no hope of literal translation but the message came through loud & clear.
So with that image & story in mind please enjoy this video of Con Anima Chamber Choir . They set the mood that day & along with several of my fellow teachers we purchased a CD to remind us.
Day 9 – Favorite music from in another language/country?
I'd kinda forgotten that I haven't finished this challege yet, although I consider it most like a 15 post challenge not so much a 15 day challenge.
It was a bit tricky for me to come up with a song or music group that I like from another country because I don't really know any other languages fluently so the music is really more atmospheric and euphoric to me more than the quality of music it really is.
Do you know what I mean? Kinda like certain smells that bring you back to a significant place or memory, you can’t share that magical feeling with anyone it doesn’t translate.
I’ll attempt to paint a picture for you though…
During one of our trips to Moscow (which is about an 8 hour train ride north from Voronezh) we were visiting the Kremlin and debating on which tourist spots we should visit.
The best way I can think to explain the Moscow Kremlin is a bit in the same sense as Big Ben, its surrounded with government authorities, royal palaces & historic buildings except that its also like the United States White House because it is where the Russian President lives as well. Near the Kremiln is St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Alexander Garden & several other cathedrals.
St. Basil’s Cathedral is hands down my favorite Cathedral in all Russia. On our tour I remember our guide saying that each of the architects & painters were blinded after it was completed to insure its originality! I suppose it’s my favorite because it’s such an iconic cathedral & while I was waiting to leave & teach in Russia I would imagine myself standing in front of St. Basil’s so when I finally found myself standing right in front of it… there were no words. But that can be another story for another day. Back to the task at hand.
* all photos were taken during our trip except this one. My camera was broken but taking photos so I didn't know until I tried to print the photos and there was nothing there. broke my heart!
Touring the Kremlin. Cathedrals tend to all blend after a while especially if you’re visiting several in a day much less over a few months so I can’t tell you exactly which cathedral we were passing near when we began to hear the music.
From Left to Right these were my fellow teachers while I lived in Russia. (Wynter, Anne, Becca, Meredith, Heather, Kristin, Jade & Brittany)
As we got closer we begin to realize the beautiful music was coming from inside a cathedral and thus we followed as if it was a bread trail leading us home. We paid out ‘donation’ and headed inside. There we found a Russian Choir whose voices were amplified by the acoustics within the cathedral and we were all entranced with the moment we’d found ourselves in.
I’ve learned that some of the sweetest moments while traveling are most often the kind you couldn’t plan even if you wanted to.
Sure they were singing Russian & fancy Russian at that so there was little or no hope of literal translation but the message came through loud & clear.
So with that image & story in mind please enjoy this video of Con Anima Chamber Choir . They set the mood that day & along with several of my fellow teachers we purchased a CD to remind us.
