I watched a movie the last couple of mornings while I was in my basement exercising before school...I know, I know, I watch way too much TV, but at least I was exercising at the same time, right!?! Anyway, the movie was called, The Map of All the Tiny Perfect Things...I don't want to spoil the movie if you decide to watch it, but it centers on the idea that mixed in with all the broken parts of life, there are many, many, tiny perfect things that happen too. The movie reminds the watcher that if we focus only on the negative, we might miss the tiny and perfect. It's those perfect things that get us through - tide us over - when the hard parts seem to want to take over.
So what kinds of tiny perfect things do I mean?
Think...
A flower growing through a crack on a sidewalk, belting out, and nailing, the lyrics of a favorite song, a perfectly shaped cloud in the sky, looking at just the right place at just the right time to see a whale breaching in the wide ocean, or The last slice of apple pie a-al-mode on a summer afternoon!
Tiny. Perfect. Things. I want you to watch out for them over the break! In fact, make a list, keep a journal, or simply make a mental note. Bring me back some gems after the break. I want you all looking for perfect things among the hard ones and I want to hear about how they help you see the beauty of this sometimes challenging life.
A former CBMS parent posted a song on social media that I listened to yesterday and I felt like it matched this idea of life's beautiful things mixed into everyday normalcy. Have a listen.
"Cover me in Sunshine...shower me with good times...tell me that the world's been spinning since the beginning, and everything'll be alright." So don't forget, bring me those good times, those "perfect moments" after the break! I want to hear about all your little things!
For today's last Black History Month Spotlight, I want to bring your attention to two individuals I think you should know about. (Since I didn't do a spotlight during my busy day yesterday I am glad to highlight two today).
William Henry Hastie was an accomplished lawyer who was one of the first African American members of the President Roosevelt Administration, serving as a race relations advisor. He was the first African American Federal Judge, appointed in 1937, and as was the first African American to hold the post of governor of a U.S. territory, (The Virgin Islands). Hastie had an esteemed career and held many other important posts, both political and academic. He certainly helped pave the way for others to follow in his footsteps.
In 1967, another African American lawyer and Judge, Thurgood Marshall, became the first black man to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court as an Associate Justice. He was appointed by President Johnson and became widely respected as a Judge who stood proudly as a champion for civil rights. During his time on the bench in the highest court in our nation, and in his 30-year career prior to that, he was passionate about civil rights for all Americans.
This afternoon, as we close our formal celebration of Black History Month, we send a silent (or maybe a loud) thank you out into the universe to all those unsung heroes of our culture and history that we didn't have time to touch upon here in these blog posts. We remember that it is on the shoulders of those that come before us that we ride. I hope that as a society we live our lives in such ways as to make them pound and to not let their hard work be in vain.
Have a great vacation everyone! Stay safe, and have fun!
If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or call 911 immediately. From the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) : September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month—a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic. We use this month to reach out to those affected by suicide, raise awareness, and connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services. It is also important to ensure that individuals, friends, and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention. Here are your local resources for suicide prevention : Who can you connect with at CBMS for help ? Mrs. Hempey, School Counselor - 802-583-8071 or jhempey@huusd.org or just come to my office! Mr. Estes, Vice Principal - joshestes@huusd.org Hillary, Dean of Students...
Good Morning Everyone, We've made it to the end of another week, and we are ready to usher in spring tomorrow! This is good news for all those folks ready to open the windows, get outside, and sweep out the cobwebs! As we touched on yesterday, however, sometimes with the good comes the bad, and the bad I am referring to was an abhorrent national news story yesterday about an act of violence against Asian-American people in an American community. I won't go into the details here, but I will say that it is a disturbing trend of violence and hate speech against Asian-Americans around the United States. Many would attribute this rise in violence to the negative stereotypes perpetuated by some of our leaders during this past year managing the COVID-19 crisis. Not surprisingly, hate speech has unfortunately followed as a result of the tone set by our leadership's inaccurate stereotyping and microaggressions. I don't want to focus too much on the speci...
Happy Thursday Folks! Yes, today is my birthday. Just another day, really, but a good day to be grateful for another trip around the sun. I just started hearing people use this expression in the last couple of years, but I really like it. It's a little reminder that... 1. We shouldn't take anything for granted, because nothing is guaranteed. 2. We have a new opportunity each day, when we open our eyes, to make it great! 3. We have 365 opportunities each year to be amazing! Since my purpose of this blog is to share pearls of wisdom with you, I think I'll try to come up with 44...one for each of my trips around our big ball of light. Here goes, in no particular order: 1. Don't spit your gum out on the sidewalk. Help keep someone else's good day from becoming sticky! 2. Make little fists with your toes on the carpet when you wake-up each morning...go ahead, try it...so relaxing! 3....
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