Harvesting a Garden of Thoughtful Dialogue with Connected Colleagues

If you ever wondered about Twitter chat conversations, it will benefit you to join one session to lurk and learn before immersing yourself in the threaded conversation. You can find a myriad of hashtag communities for heart-filled conversations, instant collaboration, and learning when you search through Twitter. It never fails each time I enter a chat that I encounter individuals whom I know or new ones to converse with. 

The power of the connected world rests in a meeting of minds with individuals from various profession. Twitter allows for this to happen each day and night. It all begins with a desire to afford yourself collaborative conversations about life, learning, and/or leadership. You can even explore avenues of thought with those outside your field of interest. This will broaden your perspective. If you search for chats inside your field, you will find a variety that have discussions on pertinent topics. Endless possibilities await those who believe in the power of connecting through social media platforms. 

The poem below is dedicated to those who tirelessly seek online professional development opportunities to further their growth and impact the well-being of others.  

In fields of open dialogue,

not one but many individuals connect-
engaging in bursts of conversations

filling learning spaces.

On fertile ground, collegial thought

develops through circles of talk-

grows through connected conversations
that twist, turn, and flourish

from budding seeds of learning
into pods of knowledge.

Not one but many 
connected colleagues form bonds, 
grow ideas in connected spaces

nurtured by open-mindsets,

to impact their living and learning lives.

-cvarsalona 2014

I would like to thank the various groups across the nation and world that I chat with via Twitter channels. Our threaded conversations are powered through a connected Twittersphere that spreads our thoughts. 

Tonight, I send out a special thanks to the #LeadWithGiants community who declared me an official "Giant" among them. This is such an honor when you only know each other virtually. Articulation in 140 characters is precise when you want a global world to hear your voice come through loud and clear. 

Reflect - Connect - Flourish
in gardens of thoughtful dialogue with connected colleagues!

I also would like to thank the #SOL14 Community for their faithfulness to the task of crafting posts each week to engage the adult learner. Slice of Life is a weekly event hosted by Two Writing Teachers.

Summer Serenity Photo Essay Unfolds in an Upcoming Gallery

I awake today to a delightful coolness in the air and a slight bend in the trees as they stand regally amidst the sunshine. With a feeling of restful peace, I watch the scene outside my window spark my senses. There is quiet in the early morning hours. I listen to the sounds of summer and hear nature calling the season to start taking its final steps. But this does not sadden me. It moves me to a reflective place. I use the time to rethink the summer months, to linger in memories of uncomplicated, untroubled moments that recharged my energy. Hurried, harried times are removed from my thoughts today as I prepare to unfold a story of summer serenity in an upcoming online gallery. Photographs, poems and poetic expressions sit before me. My computer becomes the craft engine for combining each delightful submission through various digital tools.  And so my day begins. 

Background Information:
The summer months have provided me with many hours of recollection and reflection. I connected through social media or in face to face settings with various writers, colleagues, photographers, and family, what I now refer to as the REFLECT WITH ME expression makers. My story of reflective writing did not start here with Summer's Alluring Call to Relax, Reflect, Recharge. It began with a seed of an idea back in the winter months. The first online gallery of reflective writing, REFLECT WITH ME-Bringing Together a Community of Writers To Celebrate Life and Learning, was launched in March. Then, National Poetry Month spurred me on to create a second gallery, April Awakenings, featuring a growing community of reflective writers from across the United States and as far away as Australia. Because reflection is important in my life, I decided to expand the REFLECT WITH ME writing community to include a Summer Serenity gallery of artistic expressions. 

As the summer season embarks on its final weeks before school officially starts in New York State, it might be the time to savor your moments by capturing them in images and words. Questions pondered at the beginning of the summer still hold weight. Did summer provide peaceful scenes filled with calm moments? Were your days untroubled allowing for opportunities for restful reading? Did you luxuriate in the sun dipping your toes in the sand, journey to exotic locations, rest by rivers or in your garden, picnic in parks? An oasis of serene places beckoned us this summer. The writers of the REFLECT WITH ME community will share peaceful images and poignant poetic expressions that bring a sense of calm to what we like to think of as untroubled, uncomplicated summer days like the one I am having today. 

May you spend your ending summer days relaxing, reflecting, and recharging 

for what is to come.

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Each Tuesday, Two Writing Teachers sponsors the Slice of Life community. This piece will be posted to the site where you can read many other interesting slices. The fun begins here. You can also Tweet at #SOL14.

Frustration Comes in Bundles!

When feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated, take a step back and breathe. 

Frustration comes in bundles,

Not so neatly tied

With loose threads here and there,

Leading to angst,

Echoing and reverberating

In vessels depleted by life.

Tearing at minds,

Washing away feelings,

It lives in negative space.

Move Frustration over.

Channel its urges to explode

Into streaming bursts.

Negate the stress.

Open the space.

Breathe in positivity,

So frustration leads

To change in action. 

Written in response to my colleague's blog post: @mssackstein Frustration and a need to humor my inner adolescent...just for a second, http:buff.ly/1g4vvgt