Tuesday, November 29, 2011

It's always interesting to find philosophy in line drawings

Been sorting through some thoughts lately and will attempt to write them down. But that is still to come.

Yesterday a book came through that I hadn't read, it's not new, just one I hadn't read.
For some reason I felt compelled to read it. I did. It turns out it had a lot to say about what I've been thinking this year. I'm trying to round off some edges. And even, to paraphrase a catalog description, develop my own momentum.
I may have read The Missing Piece at one point, can't remember, and have put it on hold to see what it has to say.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

I Wear My Summer Reading Club T-shirts When I Workout

It often leads to the expected, "Are you a librarian?" And requests for book suggestions and, as it did today, discussions of what we do, don't do, etc.
She said she does music classes for preschoolers and does free programs for another local library system. She said she went to our LA location and offered to do a free program.
I said, "And they said no."
She didn't understand why. Why would staffing be a problem when she was doing the program.
I explained about the promotion, calendar, registration, room set up and all.
She said, "Oh."
She asked why we had money problems. I explained about the property values devaluing and the resulting less funding. She didn't know that.
She wondered if we had volunteers. I said yes, lots, that need training and supervising and . . .
She said, "And that takes staff time. And you have less staff."
Um. Yes.
They, the people, just don't know.
Me, educator.


In case you were wondering, I did not mention the role of outreach in all of this.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Not Done with Myself, Yet

Just because I've stopped, or taken a break from, reading self-help type books, doesn't mean I don't want to read or explore other things. In some ways, I'm committing to learning even more, about other aspects of myself besides the mental health or related.
I don't know how I landed on this, but saw it in the library catalog. I was probably searching for new movie type DVDs and as this was new, it was on the list. It spoke to me in a way, even if I have been skeptical about this series in general.
It's part of The Great Courses, How to Look at and Understand Great Art.
It was fun. I didn't finish all of the DVDs - not enough time to sit and watch them, but I will put myself back on the waiting list. Maybe it will be available again when I have some of my days off.
I enjoyed the instructor. I liked her tone. She seems like a cool person.
She compared art to books. She said you can learn to read art.
She used the phrase most people use when talking about art, , knowing what I like and turned it around to a belief that you like what you know. Once you learn the vocabulary of art, you will understand more and have more confidence when you are viewing it, which lead to more enjoyment.
I've enjoyed expanding what I see by my commitment to see every exhibit at my local museum so thought this would be a nice extension.
It was.

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Finish the Work

Of course, the point is you never finish the work. I do need to finish the posts, because I'm like that. And I need to move on. I have some other projects. And I need to move these notes off my desk.
The largest part of the book is examples of the work with all kinds of issues. They are most interesting to listen to. You hear the kindness in her voice.
I have a note that I can't fully read right now but it's something about living without the frustration, stress and anger. Yeah, that would be nice. Followed by this: Do you need anger to motivate you? Maybe I do. Maybe anger has become a habit. It's a habit I need to break.
There was a power I felt when reading this book. Or what seemed like power to me. And I know I can't fully describe what it all meant to me. It goes back to an earlier post about pulling a lot of things together.
There are things that bother me, shoulds, things others should do or be that I still can work my way through. I still want to scream sometimes. I have found though that while I still think things should change or be better or someone should, I have a better sense of what will and won't happen. A better sense of when to just take myself out of the picture. Or leave the room. Or such. It's my action to take. Not theirs.
This all ties in with the whole forgiveness and gratitude things one is always hearing about. Those are what will save you. Sometimes now I even have glimmers of them.
Sometimes not.
Old patterns are hard to break.
Heh, my real thought right now it I should have finished this up weeks ago. There were more thoughts then. Thought that I felt.
But it's a should. Is is real? No. I didn't. Can I live without this thought? Oh, yes.
Will move on now.

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