Red Light, Green Light

One of my favorite NY Times writers, Melissa Kirsch, has started a new weekly newsletter called The Good List. Subscribers receive an email every Wednesday with a curated collection of "ideas, rituals, and artifacts to add joy to your days." I was sold when I read about the idea a couple of weekends ago in Kirsch's regular Saturday essay, but after 2 weeks? I'm all in!

At the end of this week's installment, Kirsch added a recommendation from a reader: instead of griping about all the red lights you hit while driving, consider counting all the green lights you make. It might just shift your mood!

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

A Hand for my Hands

My hands were busy today! 

They brewed coffee, packed lunch, made tart dough, and held gyan mudra for eleven minutes during meditation. They washed and dried my hair, drove me to bowling, and high-fived my teammates after throwing five strikes and picking up 11 spares. They switched my bowling bag for my work bag and took notes throughout a 90-minute meeting for test coordinators preparing for the upcoming SOLs. They snapped photos of the flock of cedar waxwings that was right.outside.the.window! Then they leashed up the dog and kept her close as we walked the neighborhood. And now they are limbering up to roll out that dough and top it with caramelized onions and greens to serve with tossed salad for dinner, just as soon as they finish typing this appreciation.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

FOMO

I was feeling frazzled as I settled into the tiny blue chair next to the bookshelf and carpet. I had been scheduled to observe this first-grade class at 8:30, but an accident at rush hour on I-295 had doubled my travel time, and I was late. I took a deep breath, adjusted my glasses, pulled out my pen and pad, and prepared to record what I was seeing. 

Six little scholars were sitting at the focus group table, blending sounds into words with their teacher as she played a phonemic awareness "game" with them. I was beginning to write when, over my shoulder, I heard whispering. I turned toward the murmur, and I saw another little girl following along with the lesson from her desk. She was supposed to be working on Lexia on her device, but she was acing the game instead—quietly answering every question correctly.

I laughed, and when I turned back to my observation, I realized that all the tensions of my troublesome travels were gone. I guess I just needed a little first-grade mojo.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

Keepin it Elastic

As a child, I was always a quick learner, and that quality has certainly shaped how I see myself, even today. No doubt it played a role in my becoming a teacher; quick learners often love school. And, as an educator, of course, I value lifelong learning. I used to love it when students knew things I didn't, and for many years, I challenged myself to learn random things that were of interest to them, for example, the names of the Backstreet Boys, performing The Cup Song, and how to say the Pledge of Allegiance in ASL. 

In my last few years of teaching, I had several kids who knew all the flags of the world, and that actually confounded me, maybe because there are so many. At the same time, my sister became an avid fan of the online game, Worldle, where you have to identify a country simply by its outline. Both of these tasks were really hard for me to learn, and I had to face the fact that my brain was not as elastic as it once was.

There are plenty of geography games on the internet, though, and recently I've been challenging myself to play both Travle, where you have to find the shortest route from one country to another by naming the nations in between (in order, please!), and GeoConnections, where you have to sort 16 facts into four categories matching a single country each (including the flag). 

It's still hard! But I am seeing progress. I know a lot more about the world than I used to, and I'm learning more all the time.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

Somehow I'm Neither Here nor There

The vacation home we rented last weekend in Pequea (pronounced peck-way) PA was situated right on the Susquehanna, with only a rutted dirt lane and the Port Road Branch of Norfolk Southern Railroad separating us from the river's edge. The house was well insulated from the rumble of the passing trains, which seemed to travel only at night. And although I can't say I slept through the noise, I can say it lulled me right back to sleep once I knew what it was.

There was a dreamlike quality to the weekend —muted sunsets and morning mist on the river, and then those trains that seemed to whisper by all night. We all felt it, I think, and we channeled the spellbinding setting into creating playlists of songs about trains.

I've been listening to mine ever since we got back.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

In Her Nature

"Do you love it here?" Heidi crooned to Lucy as we headed down the trail at the Elizabeth Hartwell Nature Preserve. A bald eagle flew right over heads.

Lucy wagged her tail, nose slammed to the ground, inhaling all the new smells.

"She's so happy!" Heidi said. "That makes me happy!"

"I know," I nodded. "That's why we're here."

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

To All the Folks I've Known Before

I once calculated that I taught somewhere near 3,000 students over the course of my career as a sixth-grade English teacher. With the exception of my nephews, I don't see any of them regularly. I do think of kids I've known often, though. Sometimes I run into them, all grown up, or nearly so, in this small town we all live in. Sometimes, I'll see someone who reminds me of a former student, or hear a song someone sang, or think of a book we read together, or remember a story they wrote or an anecdote they shared. And at those times, I'm always grateful for the brief time we knew each other so very well.

The same is true of colleagues. It happens sometimes that you work very closely or in the same school for years, and then someone moves on, and you lose touch. I used to feel guilty for not being a better correspondent, but I realized that was a waste of energy. So now whenever those folks come to mind, I intentionally take a moment to recall something I valued about them, wish them well, and send some loving kindness their way.

Today? It was Roula, a fellow teacher who fiercely protected her students' right to learn, always spoke her mind, and shared a cool recipe for tahini sauce: squeeze a lemon, then fill the empty shell with water to get the right balance of acidity for your tahini and garlic. Wherever she is, I hope she is happy and well. I made the sauce to go with dinner tonight, and it was perfect.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing.