When the endless tasks to do list weighs heavy on my mind, the best plan is to pause and find time to wander, notice, and wonder. I can do this virtually but prefer being in the fresh air observing nature. Yesterday, the weather was so mild that I had the yen to let my mind have a break. When a friend called about taking a walk, I jumped at the chance to gather a fresh perspective. End result-my neighborhood walk provided the jump start to a more-fulfilled afternoon.
Life took on a different perspective for that single hour all due to December's gift-an Indian summer-like day. Creative sparks went off and I wrote about a sight from my travels to central New York.
earth listens in stillness to
fall's song hushed by restless winds
crooning leaves gone south
©Carol Varsalona, 2015
The above poem transformed itself into the following digital composition.
At the same time that I had a reflective moment, Jon Harper, a connected educator from Maryland, had one too. This led to our Twitter conversation and an inspirational ending to a long day.
Triple Play, Connected Educator Literacy Experience
Part 1: Jon Harper from Maryland stopped to look at a brilliant sunset after work. He captured a contemplative moment and sent it to Sean Gaillard in North Carolina and me on Long Island. Both Sean and I are captivated by what we saw.
Part 2: I felt the movement of the water as I gazed into the brilliant sunset sky that Jon shot. I sat down to write and tweeted back a micro-poem to give tribute to aha moments and Sean's #CelebrateMonday initiative. Sean responded in a matter of minutes.
Part 3: Sean sent a follow-up tweet and we communicated with another round of thoughts followed by Jon's day-end tweet
At the close of day, I was not only inspired by the time spent reflecting and creating but filled with #edulove for the moments shared with colleagues.
By the way, I have never met Jon and Sean face-to-face but feel a kinship. Isn't that the way connected educators feel about solid online friendships?
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