Winter Creativity

Winter has arrived on Long Island with a chilling wind but no snow-tipped landscapes. There is talk of a dusting coming but for now there are only winter trees standing tall in the still morning. 

Each morning winter trees, 

stark and barren,

boldly frame the sky

saluting daylight.

I watch them dance

to wind's orchestration-

leaning in, bowing down,

swaying, conversing

bidding life to wake.

Howling, they move in rhythm,

not tipped with frost

nor touched by snow,

listening for earth's response.

My mind wanders.

Winter progresses.

©Carol Varsalona, 2016

Today is Poetry Friday and Keri Collins Lewis is hosting. Please visit Keri Recommends where she talks about the book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear and welcomes our ideas on creativity. Since I am ready to embark on a new creative journey for the Reflect With Me Galleries I design, I am eager to share my first thoughts on creativity with Keri.

At some point these ideas will make their way to a new blog post and poem but for now here are my thoughts.

Keri, I appreciate your conversation starter on creativity since I think it is the heartbeat of the innovative classroom and life. What is creativity to me? Creativity is bubbling froth spilling over allowing passion to expand into a delicious, far-reaching feeling. It is a wind chime that greets day to ring in good cheer. It is inside our spirit, within our soul allowing us to find our effervescent qualities and share them in an artful ways. Without creativity life would be devoid of inspiration and innovation. It is the "stuff" dreams are made of-the artist's brush, the poet's words, the dancer's rhythm, and the body's elixir. Creativity has unlimited reach when brought to the surface. It is my heartbeat! 

2016 One Little Word

Each Thursday, Holly Mueller calls interested colleagues to join Spiritual Journey Thursday to write about our spiritual journeys. This week, the topic is my one little word, believe. While this word has a worldly connection, the topic of songs, themes in literature, and action of characters in movies, it also has a spiritual side rooted in faith. 

PAST

As children we

came to the table

looking for sustenance

with no doubts

that it would be provided.

PRESENT

With childlike faith

we come with open hearts

and listening ears,

waiting on the edge of today, 

aware of possibilities.

FUTURE

Believing with faith,

we will trust in God
to guide our footsteps

as we journey
into each tomorrow.

©Carol Varsalona, 2016  

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 21:22

Validating that the act of believing is important in a world of constant flux, I opened my book, God Calling by A.J. Russell and found this text:

"When you come to Me, and I give you that Eternal Life I give to all who believe in Me, it alters your whole existence, the words you speak, the influences you have."

May your present be filled with rainbow wishes and a future of believing in possibilities with a child-like faith and wonder. 

Access the SJT conversation here.

I look forward to reading my colleagues' remarks about my one word and broadening my own perspective on it. Thank you, Holly, for featuring my #oneword, believe, at SJT today. 

Wishing, Hoping, Believing

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are still alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them. 
~George Eliot

A few years ago, my sister gave me a rainbow wooden scoop with the idea that wishes can be scooped out each day. I have placed my wooden wish scoop in all of my decorative displays since then. Yesterday, I decided to link it with my one word, believe, as a representative symbol.

Believing in wishes coming true is not just a fairytale thought like in the Cinderella tale. 

Wishing and hoping are the heart of believing. They send out positivity signals in a world fraught with issues. They flip negative messages, filling the air with petitions of expectancy. Wishing, hoping, believing are real actions that bring us closer to a mindset that celebrates life as opposed to challenging it.

Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come through.~Cinderella 

What dreams, wishes, hopes do you have for your professional and personal lives in 2016? 

Today is Slice of Life Tuesday so please travel over to Two Writing Teachers to read slices from other members of this community of writers.

Being Connected Matters!

Within connected spaces
an electricity explodes.
Voices rise and expand.

Within connected spaces
a collegial spirit swells.
PLNs grow exponentially.

Between connected spaces
multiple regions flatten. 
Tribes come together.

Before connected spaces
voices were in silos.
Joined intermittently.

Change has come:

There is a digital revolution but not everyone is ready. Voice Matters and needs to rise. 

Call To Action:

Practitioners of learning from all walks of life come forward. Join a growing group of positive champions of connected learning. 

Jump onboard. Become digital change agents of a multi-sensory world who actively engage and influence the development of a growth-minded culture of positivity that believes:

• voice matters
• failure is an option to move forward
• student-centered conversations empower learners

Support:

You are not alone. There is a growing network of awakeners, connected educators who explore, question, and discover additional avenues to learning by seeing limitless possibilities. You can find them in educational chats on Twitter. They converse, collaborate, blog, and support each other.

Save the Dates:

On January 18th NYEDChat will discuss the topic, Be the Digital Change, with Marialice Curran, the co-founder of the DigCit Summit and #DigCitSummitUK.

Then on January 23, 2016, #DigCitSummitUK will open as a global forum to examine ways to foster "safe, savvy, ethical use of social media and tech" for all. You can access information about this conference at Bournemouth University in England here.

"Digcitsummit is about sparking collaboration and positive digital change."

digcitsummit.com 

Today is DigiLitSunday hosted by Margaret Simon, an open space to discuss digital ideas to transform classroom activities. Please visit Margaret's site where the topic of one word activities for the classroom are being explored. This post reaches out to all to believe (my one word) in the power of connected education to bring about digital change.

Teamwork Counts!
Margaret Simon, Dr. Michele Haiken, Paul W. Hankins, Holly Mueller, Laura Purdie Salas and I comprise a team of committed colleagues from across the United States who have collaborated this past week through Google Docs, direct messaging, gmail, and a Google Hangout to create a proposal for NCTE 16. The topic is Authentic Voice in a Digital World: Using Technology in Our Literate Lives. We value the idea that being connected matters and hope that our voices will be heard. 

Please join me for the #NYEDChat conversation on 1/18/16 and follow my tweets about #DigCitSummitUK on 1/23/16. 

Celebrating One Word

Trending again this year, is a movement to invite one word into our lives as a replacement to a long lists of resolutions. I started off this past week with my one word, believe, confident that it would be my guide on a journey through 2016. 

Then, an idea popped into my head that would bring warmth to the holidays and allow friends to enjoy good food, drink, and conversations. I celebrated long-standing friendships with a spontaneous gathering at my house last Sunday.

January 8th, the Feast of the Epiphany brought back memories of Little Christmas, a family tradition celebrating the journey of the three kings to Bethlehem. My mother's 1940's manger scene was front and center on the mantle with a new addition: a beautifully crafted angel from Rwanda brought back by my son-in-law's sister who has been working there this year. To celebrate this year, my family invited friends over for a relaxing evening.

My one word made connections with my colleague Holly Mueller's word during our Spiritual Journey Thursday blog time.

I found another song to add to my one word play list. While listening to it, I blacked out words from the lyrics to create a different inspirational message.

Nights understood fear-
knew that we could achieve
when you believe.

Time proves hearts full
seek faith, miracles.

Believe when you 
can't see the way.

Hope is near.
Believe.

Today, I celebrate my one word, believe, and all that it will offer me this year. Walking a journey in faith with believe as a guide is a strong action that requires faith, stamina, and hope. There will be signposts along the way and probably slippage under foot but there will always be a tomorrow to figure out a new route.  

Each week, Ruth Ayres invites all to celebrate life at her site, Celebrate This Week. Please visit the site to read about the different ways community members celebrated their week. 

Winter Enters

I start the day reflecting about winter as I begin to take down the holiday decorations. While winter sits softly on a ground of snow in literature and in many spots across the United States, I muse about the bareness of what I see outside. These thoughts of mine are triggered by the removal of the Christmas decorations. While this act brings a bit of sadness to a house that was lit by glowing lights, it also carries with it a sense of expectancy, of what is to come in a new year. 

Before beginning the process, I pause and listen. There is a gentle quiet to the day. A solitary bird flutters among the trees and the sun shines. The world outside is silent as I begin to write in between the day's tasks. Winter has arrived as a bare landscape but the radiator purrs generating heat to warm the chill. Now, on to the task of storing away my Christmas memories ...

Recently, I saw the above mannequin draped in real fir branches in a display. I captured the image and decided to digitalize the photo to become the backdrop for a micropoem. I imagined this lovely lady as a herald of winter, fit to grace any department store window. She is ready to pay tribute to winter and soon to announce a new winter gallery but first, in anticipation, please review last year's collection, Winter Whisperings. 

It is time to visit Tabatha Yeatts' site, The Opposite of Indifference, for today's Poetry Friday treats.

One Word Connections

Although it is difficult for me to wait patiently for answers, I understand the importance of doing so. While wait is not my one word this year, it is an important component of my word, believe. Wait, in its quiet manner, invites me to sit and ponder so I dedicate this digital inspiration below to those who open their heart, listen intently, and wait for the answers that they may or may not find immediately. 

Holly Mueller, my friend, colleague, and host of Spiritual Journey Thursday opens her site each week to bring our small community together to write about our thoughts. This week Holly is speaking about the spiritual aspect of her one word, WAIT. 

This post is dedicated to Holly and her one word, wait, that has provided me with another look at what it takes to truly believe.

Graphic via Holly Mueller from http://refe99.com/author/admin/page/272/

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

To Believe

Before I stepped into 2016, I knew that I would invite the word believe into my life. It would serve as a guide on a journey that would be filled with the usual array of challenges, false footings, and uneven ground. Believe flowed well with my 2013 word openness and listen, my 2015 word, but there was one lingering question that I needed to explore. 

"Since I believe in the power of positivity and possibilities, how would the verb believe extend my thinking?" 

Understanding that everyday pathways become cluttered with old stones and loose pavement, I decided to use believe's strength to reboot and enhance the flow of positivity into my life. 

To believe

without hesitation,

with confident resolve,

opens the heart 

to possibilities unlimited-

my call to action.

To believe,

listen to surrounding sounds;

make sense of the dissonance;

unravel assumptions.

Take a stand in a world

of cluttered thoughts.

To fully believe, claim:

confidence as a walking partner,

truth as an ever-present guide,

and conviction as a watchful sentry

on the journey called life.

©Carol Varsalona, 2016 

Creativity Spark:

This holiday my love for baking was re-energized. After multiple tins of desserts were baked and stored, I took a flight of fantasy and designed an imaginative recipe to sweeten my journey. Perhaps, the recipe fits the description of a life cake but I call it my 5-Star Positivity Cake.

Directions 

Spray an open-mind (container) with squirts of well-oiled thoughts.

Add in:

• 1 1/2 cups of one-words (openness and listen)
• 2 cups of belief
• 2 tablespoons of confident resolve
• sprinkling of red sugar crystals for spark
• 2 teaspoons of fresh grated orange peel for zest
• 6 oz. of sweetened condensed voice

Pour the ingredients into the vessel. 

Purposefully stir the mixture with lots of energy.

Bake until all is properly risen.

Let it cool before popping it out. 

Savor the taste and share the flight of fantasy.  

As I reflect upon the 2016 journey, there will be many times that inspiration is needed to continue the walk. When I lose my footing along the path, I will visualize the darkness lit by hundreds of lantern lights to lead me onward.

Join me as I bake a positivity cake and a batch of cookies with belief, positivity, and hope fillings as comfort food for the journey.

If you would like to read about the #NYEDChat convo, New Year, New Direction, you can access the archive here. Many one words were shared.

Today is the first Slice of Life Tuesday of the new year. Please visit Two Writing Teachers where this post will be linked. I look forward to reading the various slices which most likely will be focusing on new directions and one words. 

So Much to Celebrate

2015 turned into 2016 at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Much to my surprise, as the ball dropped I caught the magical moment and creatively embellished the shot.

The holidays are a wonderful time to celebrate. There is no denying this but sometimes I am obsessed with those Hallmark moments. Recognizing that life is fragile and uncertain and that the new year brings a commitment to change, I have chosen the #oneword believe to guide my 2016 journey. 

I believe in the importance of life's precious moments and celebrate:

family that is dear to me

longtime friendships that continue the joy of gathering

the warmth of home

the hectic but welcoming holiday time

the connected spirit of educators

There is so much to celebrate in 2016 if we open our eyes, listen to each other and the world around us, and believe in a mindset of positivity with its unlimited possibilities. 

Today is the back-to-school day that welcomes the new year. 

Follow a new direction this year - there is so much to celebrate in life!

Each weekend, Ruth Ayres asks us to find the positives in our week and add those thoughts to her site, Celebrate This Week. I am happy to find Ruth celebrating a decade of one words at her site. Since the weekend was a busy one of celebrating, I link up my thoughts today and hope that you find the possibilities that this week will offer. 

New Year, New Direction

Now that the new year is here, it is time to think about a new direction for our journeys. Since research proves that resolutions fail, I along with many other connected educators, have chosen to select one word to guide our personal/professional paths. 

The one word initiative is not a trendy fad but a transformational one. In fact, for the past two years I have chosen two different one words. I not only have invited the words into my life but have recognized them as they pop up in different scenarios. They have been the right words to move me forward on my quest to build a positive life. Openness and listen have now led me to my 2016 one word, believe. A simple acrostic poem that I created will be mantra this year as I strive to keep a positive outlook on life and influence others to do the same.

Belief that

Every

Life

Inspired

Event (whether positive or not)

inVigorates and adds to

Each of my days.

Because of the importance of setting a purpose to our calendar year, NYEDChat will devote its kickoff educational chat of 2016 on Twitter to the topic, New Year, New Direction, tomorrow night, January 4, 2016 pm EST. 

This chat will open the doors to a lively discussion on how one word or purpose will inspire us to lead fuller lives that will impact our journey and that of others. Please join me but before you do listen to the song I Believe I Can Fly. Perhaps, this year will be the one that I and the many others who have chosen this word will soar.

Please visit DigiLit Sunday hosted by Margaret Simon to hear more about the one word initiative that will be explored in classrooms. Teachers and students will find the power of the one little word this year. Will you join consider joining in the movement? Here are some resources that will be shared at #NYEDChat tomorrow. 

http://getoneword.com/the-one-word-video/
Jon Gordon-OneWord that will Change Your Life

http://getoneword.com/
http://myoneword.org/pick-your-word/#sthash,gkaC30i6.dpuf

http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/01/one-word-to-guide-my-journey.htm
http://fouroclockfaculty.com/2016/01/my-oneword-for-2016    
http://oneword365.com

One Word to Guide My Journey

When the pen stands still

the writer's heart awakens the mind.

Sometimes there is a lull in the word weaving process.

It comes when the spirit feels depleted

and the realities of life interfere.

It seeps in quietly, surreptitiously,

and complicates emotions

until the light of the fire flickers

 and triggers a spark.

It is then that the urging of the heart

rises to meet the mind

 and spins simple words

into golden threads.

Now is the time for me to be in the moment and ponder the infinite possibilities of life with an open mind and a listening ear. (My one words from 2014 and 2015 were openness and listen.) Which word will I invite into my life this? After much deliberation this past December, my one word to guide my 2016 journey found me. It is:

I offer Josh Groban's live performance of Believe as a way of celebrating the magic of one word to guide my journey.

The words of Believe are poetry in song.

What does the one word believe mean to me?

Belief that

Every

Life

Inspired

Event (whether positive or not)

inVigorates and adds to

Each of my days.

In the days to come, I will look more closely at this word and ponder its impact on my journey. Until then, please visit Mary Lee Hahn and Franki Sibberson's site, Year of Reading for Poetry Friday. 

Happy New Year!