Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Contented Cat Stretches!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by

Two Writing Teachers.

In the waning days of 2014, I started thinking about my OLW for this year.  I had a wonderful journey with savor and felt that I truly embraced my word this past year.  I found that checking in on 5th Tuesdays was key for me and helped me maintain a focus on my word throughout the year.

Suddenly, people were beginning to post their words along with beautiful visual reminders.  When I saw Michelle's beautiful visual on Twitter, I quickly messaged her and asked how she did it.  Here's her reply:
"I used google slides (just like power point). Found the pic online.
It's a wallpaper, so I can use it. So easy! :) Happy New Year!"

Great, except that you must understand that I'm a teacher of a certain age who spent fourteen years out of the classroom and was totally overwhelmed by technology when I returned.  I relied heavily on help from my own kids, my husband, my students, and somehow never mastered Powerpoint.  But I plunged into google slides anyway and tried a few things.  I decided it was a good way to "stretch" and put my OLW for 2015 to work right away.  After playing around for almost an hour, I decided my effort was "good enough" and followed Jone's recent advice to "let go of unrealistic expectations for perfection."   I love that the photo is one I took this fall when the steps in our ravine were covered in scarlet maple leaves.  


I connected these steps to an experience I had this past week.  I arrived before 8 am for a doctor's appointment.  I thought that I could park my own car instead of using the valet parking.  It was early, there were sure to be parking spots, and I'd save some money.  As soon as I entered the garage, I remembered why I use valet parking.  It's an old garage, with sharp turns and tiny parking spots.  I ended up on the top floor and then realized there was no elevator.  However, it was all downhill at that point.  When I returned from my appointment, the steps up four flights all flew by quickly, and I wasn't even winded because they were gentle steps.  I immediately made a connection to these gentle steps when I chose this picture to represent my OLW. 

I want gentle stretches in my life this year.  I like the slow, languid, relaxed image of a cat stretching (that was the image I originally wanted, but couldn't find - maybe later this year).  There are certain areas of my life that pop up year after year as resolutions:  "Lose weight, exercise more, get organized, strengthen my spiritual life."  I no longer make new year's resolutions, but I know that I can gently stretch myself as I seek to grow in these areas during the coming year.  When I saw Mary Lee's acrostic for notice, I was inspired to create one for stretch that I shared on Poetry Friday.  Perhaps it will be more meaningful with this bit of background I've provided about my intentions for stretching myself this year.

Moving On

Steps,
Tiny steps, with time to
Refresh, to celebrate
Each day's small effort as I seek
To gently grow,
Comfortable as a cat, content and
Happy to move forward slowly.

                      - Ramona Behnke

If you want more inspiration for choosing your OLW or sharing OLW with students, see my previous post, Resources for OLW.

I plan to continue last year's practice of writing about my OLW journey on Slice of Life each 5th Tuesday throughout the year:  March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 29th.  I look forward to seeing updates from each of you about your journeys throughout the year whenever you choose to write!

12 comments:

  1. Ramona, I LOVE your visual!!! Way to go!! I also love your poem. I want to write a poem for my OLW too. Still pondering that! Can't wait to see how you STRETCH yourself this year!

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  2. Love your visual for your OLW and your poem, especially the last line, "Happy to move forward slowly." So important! May you stretch into great things in 2015!

    Jennifer

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  3. I love how you connected your word not only with events happening every day in your life but also with a visual. It's kind of like a mental health tattoo!

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  4. I love reading your process, Ramona and your tech story. Love the rich slice you shared here and so early :)

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  5. Ramona, I love the journey you took to arrive at your OLW. I think your poem says it all. Stretching is something that should be slow and comfortable...something we all can do. Besides, a little stretch can lead to big things. Hope your little stretches lead to big steps for you in this new year.

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  6. Ramona, I love the word 'stretch'. What a great OLW! So many ways it can impact your life. It's a word that will really make you grow, I think. Great, great word. And I love your acrostic! Well done!

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  7. Ramona, What a great word - stretch! I loved Mary Lee's poem and how you borrowed that idea to help visualize your OLW. Tiny steps, refresh, celebrate so many great ideas for the word stretch. I can't wait to follow your journey and I like the sharing plan of every 5th Tues. I can't wait to read your updates.

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  8. Seems to me that you've already "stretched" mightily, for the word & for yourself, Ramona. I like that you figured out Google Slides, & created such a gorgeous OLW image. So many are sharing OLWs this year. It will be great to hear about their daily lives with them.

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  9. LOVE this, Ramona:
    ...to celebrate
    Each day's small effort as I seek
    To gently grow,

    Here's to gently stretching in the new year!

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  10. Loved your poem about s-t-r-e-t-c-h, Ramona. I will look forward to reading about how it's going on those fifth Tuesdays.

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  11. What a unique word for the New Year. I love it and it so great because it allows so much grace as you "stretch" slowly into the areas you want to improve. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Ramona, I love your poem and the image of a content cat. (You should see the one stretched out next to me at the moment!) I also love your "take it easy" attitude and reminder to "celebrate/Each day's small effort..." I have such a hard time remembering that! Thank you for sharing!

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