Stepping up

This year I'm determined to provide more support to Trent as he enters the sixth grade. He is an amazing human: compassionate, kind, affectionate, silly, incredibly smart---just what I like. When he is focused, he excels: he loves to read and he reads at a speed that echoes mine. He loves to move and he is quite graceful, so he's brilliant at both karate and poi. He loves science and math, and he excels there, too.

He does not love writing, organization or pre-planning.

Here, I think I can help him. But I've held back for the last few years, both because I have little previous experience with kids and I had a really difficult encounter with his stepdad that discouraged me from even trying to contribute. Now, I think I've processed that old baggage and further, if I'm challenged again, I have the confidence not to step back.

I just ran a book over to his mom's and sat down to tell her that I wanted to be more involved. She was welcoming and kind. We get along really well most of the time, which isn't a surprise: she's a sharp woman and I get along extremely well with smart women. I'm not as confident that things will go well with Trent's stepdad, since it's usually much more difficult for me to connect with guys, even when they aren't angry and aggressive. Still, this is a good start.

After talking with his mom, I have a sense of what I need to do next: get a four-month erasable wall calendar, fill in his daily class rotation (there's a six-day schedule), and note when he's going to be gone on Boy Scout weekend campouts. He has three language arts classes: a French class that he loves (thank gods), a writing class and a general reading/language arts class. These days need to be highlighted so I know I'll be working with him during those evenings.

It's a start, anyway. This year, I think I can make a real difference in his life. I'm going to try.

KIVA Team: We are four loans away from $15,000

...and repayments start coming into our accounts today:

http://www.kiva.org/team/blue_star_wicca_and_friends

Ready, set, GO!

Academic terrors

Are you reading dr_pretentious's journal?

Today she wrote this:

http://dr-pretentious.livejournal.com/169778.html

My favorite part:

"I would dream I was teaching at a high school, and since I'm just under five feet tall and look younger than I am, the administrators would mistake me for a student and force me to go through high school all over again. These dreams typically ended with me shouting futilely, "But wait! I have a Ph.D.! I don't have to be a matriculated student anywhere, ever again!" as a great vortex of wind pulled me back into the classroom."


I used to have this dream. But in my case, my mom had re-enrolled me in high school because I'd failed to fulfill a math requirement. In my dream, I begged just like dr_pretentious begged, but to no avail.

I finally stopped having the dream after walking out of the school and refusing to go back.

It's nice to know that you're not alone in your neurosis.

****

Hey---TWO of the women I love have had this dream! And they're both brilliant! I'm sort of normal.

Big grin.

Writer's Block: Eraser dust

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The Chicago Manual of Style. It's proof of the existence of evil.

Fundraising for the Blue Star Foundation

As of our last FreeSpirit gathering in Ramblewood, MD, I'm stepping away from my post as the BSF Treasurer and becoming a fundraiser for the organization instead. In moving forward, I've been considering what makes fundraising successful. I've had a little experience with the Blue Star Wicca and Friends KIVA Lending Team, and based on that, I want to propose a few principles by which our community can guide its fundraising efforts.

1. Fundraising feels natural and organic when it's focused on something that gives what we do meaning.

As a community, we need to come to an agreement about what the BSF is meant to do. We need to understand its goals and believe that they are important. When we are passionately engaged in what the BSF can bring to our Tradition, it will be a pleasure to plan and facilitate fundraisers that work---even if the work itself is challenging.

2. Fundraising is easier when it helps connect us to each other and the communities around us.

I believe that our efforts will be rewarded when they are designed to bring us closer to each other and to our non-Blue Star friends. What is built in the spirit of creative connection will flourish because it feeds our desire for support and affection. As we design future fundraising projects, I hope to encourage us to think about how to offer ourselves opportunities for playful collaboration.

3. Fundraising should be fun, not painful.

Anything that feels like a chore is unlikely to spread and flourish. If we want to have an impact, we need to bring people joy. Our projects should make them happy and give us pleasure as well. When people feel good, their capacity to give expands---and that's exactly what we want.

I propose that we begin our fundraising efforts by adopting these principles and then asking what their guidance requires of us. For example, in order to give our BSF work meaning, we need to generate an agreed-upon vision, a vision we can all care about. In order to connect ourselves to each other and those around us, we need to find a mechanism for reaching out into the wider Pagan/Earth Spirit community and ask what kinds of projects might bring us all together. In order to make sure that we have fun, we need to build and nurture a BSF culture that values play.

(no subject)

Sleep.