Random Ramblings of a New Yorker

"There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be..."

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:15:31 -0400

“There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that.”

- From The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (98%). This quote just got me thinking about the power of stories and how deeply they can affect our lives. They can enlighten, inform, and entertain people simultaneously. Oh the joy of books!

"The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your..."

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:26:15 -0400

“The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don’t. If you keep saying your slippers aren’t yours, then you’ll die searching, you’ll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.”

- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

This quote got me thinking about how we need to accept even our flaws as part of what makes us who we are. Until we own up to that we can never truly be happy with ourselves and the lives we’ve led. Just something I need to think about…

Life works in mysterious ways...

Thu, 26 May 2011 18:55:15 -0400

I think it’s quite interesting how you can live your whole life knowing something and not really give it much thought. Then after believing you’ve practically come to terms with how your life’s turned out, something happens that causes you to wonder about where your life has taken you. It’s not really about regretting the things that have happened, but about wanting to know more and having your questions answered. I just need to have the courage to ask for help.

Life's surprises...

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:31:56 -0400

It’s quite amazing how people can surprise you in the most unexpected ways. It just goes to show…never underestimate people. Even if you’ve known someone their entire life, they can still warm your heart and surprise you in the best ways. <3

"“I used to assume that the direction of ‘progress’ was somehow inevitable, not to..."

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:56:00 -0400

“

“I used to assume that the direction of ‘progress’ was somehow inevitable, not to be questioned…the fact that life seemed to get harder and faster with each day…”

Norberg-Hodge continues to argue not only that Western development workers should not blindly impose modern ‘improvements’ on ancient cultures, but that industrialized countries had lessons to learn from people like Ladakhis about building sustainable societies. “I have seen,” she writes, “that community and a close relationship with the land can enrich human life byond all comparison with material wealth or technological sophistication. I have learned that another way is possible.” p.112
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“Norberg-Hodge admiringly quotes the king of another Himalayan country, Bhutan, who say s the true measure of a nation’s success is not gross national product, but “gross national happiness.” On their warm, dry roof, among the fruits of their successful harvest, eating, smoking, and gossiping with the same sense of leisure as Parisians on the terrace of a sidewalk cafe, Mortenseon felt sure that, despite all that they lacked, the Balti still held the key to a kind of uncomplicated happiness that was disappearing in the developing world as fast as old-growth forests.” p.120
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“We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We’re the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills…Haji Ali taught [Greg Mortenson] to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.” p.150
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“I don’t want to teach Pakistan’s children to think like Americans,” Mortenson says. “I just want them to have a balanced, nonextremist education. That idea is at the very center of what we do.” p.209

”

- These quotes come from the book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. They really got me thinking about just how much material wealth is valued in American society. I particularly feel that “the fact that life seem[s] to get harder and faster with each day…” living in NYC, always having to be on the go. It makes me wonder if this is really how I should be living my life. I’ll probably only be here for a few more years at most. In the end, I want to settle in a place where the pace of living isn’t quite so fast so that I can contribute to a higher “gross national happiness.”

It also reminded me that in my own classroom, it’s not about teaching my students to share my own personal values or mindset, but to give them the tools and opportunities to practice making educated decisions. So when they leave the safety of my classroom, they’ll be able to acknowledge that there are multiple perspectives and make informed decisions about how they should lead their lives.

Just some thoughts…

Patience...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:47:00 -0400

It certainly pays off. I just need to remember to breathe, be patient and not expect myself to know every little thing with regards to my life, my job and the world. Things will come when they’re supposed to and I’m ready to receive them…

A big hoopla for nothing...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:41:36 -0400

It’s funny how sometimes we can try and make such a big deal about something in our minds (even if it is necessary or warranted) and in the end it can turn out to be a-okay. I’m just glad it all worked out in the end. I can finally put this behind me and move on with my life…thankfully!

Sometimes...

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:37:10 -0400

life doesn’t seem fair, but we’ve got to live with the cards life has dealt us and just go from there. It might be hard in the moment to get over the unfairness, but we just have to have faith in the fact that we’re where we’re supposed to be at that moment, breathe and tackle head-on whatever obstacles life throws our way…Here it goes!

Packing up a NYC apartment sure can be tough and even a little...

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:57:54 -0400

Packing up a NYC apartment sure can be tough and even a little claustrophobic! Pictures from the packing bonanza…almost there!

Moving in NYC…never fun

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:43:35 -0400

Moving in NYC…never fun

"Make it a point to do something every day that you don’t want to do. This is the golden rule..."

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:43:00 -0400

“Make it a point to do something every day that you don’t want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.”

- Mark Twain

I’ve gotta keep pushing myself and not letting my fears and insecurities rule my life and guide the decisions I make.

"…I think there is only one things to do: find the task we have been placed on this earth to..."

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:34:00 -0400

“…I think there is only one things to do: find the task we have been placed on this earth to do, and accomplish it as best we can, with all our strength, without making things complicated or thinking there’s anything divine about our animal nature. This is the only way we will ever feel that we have been doing something constructive when death comes to get us. Freedom, choice, will, and so on? Chimeras. We think we can make honey without sharing in the fate of bees, but we are in truth nothing but poor bees, destined to accomplish our task and then die.”

- From p.238 of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

This is certainly a somewhat morbid quote, but it definitely got me thinking. It got me thinking that although we humans think we’re better than animals since we’re more evolved, we have to remember that we all share the same fate. It’s the point of life. We’re born, we live and we die. We just have to make sure we make the most out of the living part and hope that we can find what we’re supposed to do on this world. I hope everybody is fortunate enough to find and do what they’re “made” to do. Like most things in life, even if it’s your passion, it’ll have its ups and downs but remember why you love it. Enjoy it while we can!

"…Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she’s covered in..."

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:20:00 -0400

“…Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she’s covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary—and terribly elegant.”

- From p.143 of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

This quote makes me wonder if I’m like a hedgehog, not necessarily the elegant part, but the covered in quills, a fortress, and fiercely solitary. Sometimes I feel like I don’t let people in. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because I don’t like others seeing how unsure I can be and that I am dependent on others. I guess I like to pride myself on being a “strong, independent woman,” but who says independence doesn’t also require some aid at times. We all need help sometimes right? Gotta remind myself that it’s okay and to lower the “quills” that I have up protecting my inner self.

"…when you don’t know how to build the present, you tell yourself you can deal with it..."

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:14:00 -0400

“…when you don’t know how to build the present, you tell yourself you can deal with it tomorrow, and it’s a lost cause anyway because tomorrow always ends up becoming today…We have to live with the certainty that we’ll get old and that it won’t look nice or be good or feel happy. And tell ourselves that it’s now that matters: the build something, now, at any price, using all our strength. Always remember that there’s a retirement home waiting somewhere and so we have to surpass ourselves every day, make every day undying. Climb our own personal Everest and do it in such a way that every step is a little bit of eternity. That’s what the future is for: to build the present, with real plans, made by living people.”

- from p.128-129 of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Such a profound thing for such a young character, but I guess that’s just my assumption that young people can’t say profound things. Of course Barbery created this character so she is allowing her to say whatever philosophical thing she wants, but still…it makes you think.

To sum it up using 4 words from the musical RENT…”No day but today.” I feel like I’m always living in the moment, for the most part, but maybe not as much as I could be. If you know me, you know that I’m a planner and always looking ahead to the future. Maybe I need to remind myself that I need to enjoy each moment as it occurs and to just soak it all in.

"…Kantian idealism. What we know of the world is only the ‘idea’ that our..."

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:58:00 -0400

“…Kantian idealism. What we know of the world is only the ‘idea’ that our consciousness forms of it. But there is an even more depressing theory than that one…There is the idealism of Edmund Husserl…According to Husserl’s theory, all that exists is the perception of the [object]…The world is an inaccessible reality and any effort to try to know it is futile. What do we know of the world? Nothing. As all knowledge is merely reflective consciousness exploring its own self…”

- from p.61 of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

The next few posts are quotes from a book I recently finished:

I don’t know whether I agree with Husserl’s theory of idealism, but I do think that we can never truly know the world as everything comes from our perspective or consciousness. So in a way knowledge really is reflective consciousness trying to understand itself. Just a thought…

Photo

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:22:34 -0400

Craving these no thanks to Sarah (and Danelle as she’s the...

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:06:00 -0400

Craving these no thanks to Sarah (and Danelle as she’s the one who introduced me to Sarah and her beautiful kids)!

I saw this commercial the other day and laughed. It was a...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:53:54 -0500

I saw this commercial the other day and laughed. It was a creative way of paying homage to a commercial from the 80s.

Snow Day!

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:10:19 -0500

We got another snow day which is pretty awesome. Just one kink in the excitement…I didn’t bring my planbook home so I don’t know what we’re doing Monday. Looks like I’m heading in early Monday. Oh well. I’m not going to let that spoil my unexpected day off! Now back to bed!

Cleaning...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:29:47 -0500

I think it’s amazing how much I don’t really like cleaning (vacuuming, mopping, doing dishes, doing laundry, bathroom cleaning, etc.), but still get such a good feeling once I’ve done all of the cleaning. It’s just funny…I love organizing and sorting things, but there’s something about cleaning that just rubs me the wrong way. All in all, I’m glad it’s done! Onto slightly more pressing work like finishing my book club book by tomorrow night and doing some other things on my “To Do” list. I hope everyone’s having a great President’s Day!