A Tiny Place

 

I should have begun this new blog two years ago.  On the threshold of an entirely new adventure after four years of living overseas... I started and stopped writing a few times.  In between the time that I completed my Opals Blog   http://opalsfromabroad.blogspot.com/2016/05/beginning-of-end-and-all-new-things.html and this new rumination...I had taken on two positions, (still in education), moved 4 times, contracted COVID, and suddenly retired.  Now here I am again, sharing experiences and pictures and hopefully you will find some entertainment therein.  At the high point of blogging while living internationally, I had 1600+ followers.  I don't expect to gain that kind of following this time around, but I feel compelled to apply this skill in some way that requires me to be disciplined and gives me something meaningful to do. There will be some joy, some sorrow, some travel, some questions, and some answers.  I pray you will gain something good from the effort, if nothing more than a few moments of enjoyment and maybe some laughs.

Instead of jumping directly into the present... I'm going to live in the past for a while via pictures on my I phone, some blog posts I drafted but never published, and journal writings that I never did anything with.  I invite you to come along on the journey with me.  Be notified that from time to time, I will continue to muse on the spiritual life, as that is the single constant of my world and the most important aspect of living.  

Leaving Morocco was easy.  I love that multi-faceted country and the beautiful people I met there, but the time was right, facilitated by a great disappointment and what I felt at the time was a kind of betrayal, and a divinely orchestrated need to be near family again. What was NOT easy was repatriating.  I was returning to a country I barely recognized. It was 2016.  I won't say anything else, other than to comment that many times since, I have considered fleeing back to places where the political landscape is kinder, and humanity appears saner.  Nevertheless....  I was back, and in the town I was born in no less.  Pueblo, Colorado.  I was near my sister and my mother less than a mile away actually.  I had a cute little house, bought a convertible- fulfilling a lifelong desire, and had re-connected with a couple of old high school friends.  That part was good.

However.... I did not like my job.  It was a poor fit and I was not good at what I was tasked to do, which drove me round the bend.  I am ALWAYS good at my work.  This place was an exception.  That part was bad.  What to do?  I was teaching at the middle school level.  I had six periods of 7th graders taking a mandated class with me called Leadership.  Within the first month it was clear to me that I was not going to "Capture" these kids hearts.  They were mean, profane, streetwise beyond their years, broken by family, and above all else... they were highly collaborative.  Usually in a classroom that's a great thing, but these kids had one mission and that was to drive me off.  My worst periods were of course 1st and 7th.  My first period class worked diligently to make me cry.  I joked with the 7th period class that I was going to buy us all t-shirts that read "I survived 7th period"  They loved that idea. I think there were about 7 times when I almost walked out of that school.  Fortunately I have an ingrained work ethic, and I willed myself to stay.  By the end of the year, it's true, I had come to love many of them, and even developed some "fans".  I don't know that I changed many lives.... maybe, maybe not, but we all survived and I got out alive.  I had known however by April that I was NOT going to put myself though another year of that.

I FIRMLY believe it's extremely important to LOVE your work.  There is NO point to staying in work here you aren't happy or fulfilled.  I was not happy... or fulfilled.   I cast about looking for a position that would FIT my talents and desires... my sweet spot. I applied everywhere in my home town, but found the school district to be quite closed off.  You had to know someone who knew someone.  That wasn't me, I'd been gone almost 45 years.  I cast a bit further... knowing I wanted to return to educational administration.  I had a passion for leading in that capacity and had spent the better part of the last 4 years overseas completing my post masters certification in Administration.  I wanted to be a principal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef9QnZVpVd8

Till next time....."Further on Up.... Further on In!"