Day 21 ~ Martin Luther King Jr

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Today as we remember Martin Luther King Jr, let us remember how he used his words and not his fists to make a difference. His powerful words helped change our Nation. He is proof that by standing up for what you believe to be right, even if others do not agree, can make a difference. He had a Dream, and he never gave up on it. And because he believed in his dream, today we all can have dreams. He showed that nothing is impossible, you just have to be strong enough, brave enough, courageous enough, to stand up.

Words are powerful. Words can make a difference if we use them correctly. So let’s teach our children the power of words and not the power of fists when the want to solve a problem. Teach them that to make a change, they have the power, if they just believe in themselves.

As I was teaching my Kindergarten class about Martin Luther King Jr. last week, I remember looking around at their faces. Their very diverse faces. In my classroom, I have students of all races. And in my classroom, we call ourselves a family.

~Elizabeth

Day 20 ~ Music Quotes

As I mentioned a few posts ago, something I am changing on this blog from what I did last year is that not every quote is going to be from a book. Instead I want to use quotes and sayings that speak to me, instead of searching for a quote. Most of the quotes here will still be from books, but I like the idea of being able to share quotes from anywhere. To kick off using quotes from music, today instead of a quote, I decided to share a poem I wrote in one of my classes last year where we were learning to teach poetry.

It is called a found poem. For those who don’t know what a found poem is, it is pretty much using words that already exist, and creating a poem out of them. Such as having an article and highlighting a few lines or words that stand out to you, and creating a poem that way.

What I did was more of an Ipod shuffle. I turned my Ipod on, and wrote the first line of every song that played for a while. I then rearranged them in a way I thought made sense. I enjoyed the way it turned out. How so many different lines, from different songs, from different artist, from different genres, seemed to find a way to fit together, even if it doesn’t fit perfectly

I think it is a good example of life. We are all a different song lyric. We follow life by our own tune. Sometimes we come across other lyrics that when we try to blend together we create the sound of a dying cat. But when we find the right lyrics, we can make some pretty decent harmonies

~Elizabeth

PS Excuse the bad music metaphor and ramblings, still fighting the flu and I blame the meds

 

It’s been a really really messed up week.

Where it Began, I can’t begin to know

 

Guess this means you’re sorry

I’d really hate to let this moment go

 

Something has changed within me

Closed off from love, I didn’t need the pain

 

Wise men Say

You can’t always get what you want

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain

 

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

I need another story

 

Somewhere out there beneath the pale Moonlight

Rising up

There’s a hero if you look inside your heart

Forget your troubles come on get happy

 

 Song titles and artists:

Tonight Tonight- Hot Chelle Rae

Sweet Caroline-Neil Diamond

 

My Life Would Suck Without You- Avril Lavigne

Don’t You Wanna Stay-Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson

 

Defying Gravity-Wicked Original Broadway Play

Bleeding Love-Leona Lewis

 

I Can’t Help Falling in Love-UB40

You Can’t Always Get What You Want-Rolling Stones

Lean On Me-Michael Bolton

 

Good Riddance-Green Day

Secrets-OneRepublic

 

Somewhere Out There-Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram

Eye of the Tiger-Survivor

Hero-Mariah Carey

Get happy-Judy Garland

Day 17, 18, 19 ~ Stardust

For the last few days I have been laid up with the flu. It has been pretty miserable and I have had zero energy to do much. This is the first time I have had enough energy to even consider updating my blog. One of the things I did to pass the time was watch Stardust which happens to be not only a favorite movie of mine, but also a favorite book, written by one of my favorite authors Neil Gaiman. So I decided to make up for the days I have missed and today I will use 3 of my favorite quotes from the book and movie Stardust.

 

“You want to know what the Captain really whispered to me that day? He told me that my true love… was right in front of my eyes. And he was right.”

“You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn’t true. I know a lot about love. I’ve seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate… It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves… You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and… What I’m trying to say, Tristan is… I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I’d know it for myself. My heart… It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it’s trying to escape because it doesn’t belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I’d wish for nothing in exchange – no gifts. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.”

“You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.”

Stardust really does have it all. Romance, action, adventure, fantasy, humor, british accents…De Niro as a gay dancing pirate…

But really, I absolutely love the movie, and if you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend that you do. And also, anything written by Neil Gaiman will be worth it

~Elizabeth

Day 16~ NCIS

I recently found that as much as I enjoyed working on this quote project last year, and really want to continue this year, I have felt like I was forcing myself to find quotes. It has begun to feel more like an obligation and I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I should. My friend asked if the quotes had to come from books? After thinking about it, I decided no. While most of my quotes will come from books, I will now instead focus on quotes and words that mean something to me as I hear them, instead of searching for them. Because to me, that is what makes a quote special. When you read or hear something that strikes something in you, that makes you feel.

So today’s quote is from NCIS, one of my favorite TV shows. I was watching last nights episode and this line stuck out with me.

“Our worlds are different, our goals the same.”

I think many times we see people as being ‘worlds away’ from our understanding and feelings, yet really I think often times if we look beyond the differences we can see that in the end we are very similar.

And I had to add this picture because if anyone is a NCIS fan, you have to be somewhat familiar with TIVA, and yes, I fangirled a little when at this moment One of my favorite moments, and I love the line.

“You are not Alone”

Day 15 ~ Charlotte’s Web

“Why did you do all this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’
You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

Day 14 ~ Beautiful Creatures

“The guys were going down one road, and I was going down another.”

At times in our lives, there comes a point when we realize that the path we are meant to travel, isn’t always the same as the people in our lives. As we grow, we change, and where are life is heading isn’t always going to lead us to the same place as the people we may have once thought it would. Depending on the time in my life, I have had various close friends. People who for a time were always there. But as we grew, as we began and ended school. As we moved away, or stayed in place. As we held jobs and careers. As some people got married and had children, what brought us together changed.

Each of those friends were important to me at that time, and still hold a place in my heart because they were apart of my life for a certain period of my life. Over the years I have lost touch with many people, or they have become facebook friends that occasionally like my status. But that doesn’t change the fact that we were once great friends. All it means is that eventually, we each reach a road and have to take our own path.

Sometimes we are able to keep connected with others and even though our paths are not the exact same,  they are intertwined. I have had the same best friends for many years even though we each live in a different state and are at different areas of our lives.  That is how I know they are my best friends. We may not walk the same road, but we walk together.

~Elizabeth

Day 12 ~ The Four Loves and Day 13~ The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul

Alas…on the occasion I find I have what resembles a life (or a really lazy day, I will let you wonder which it was…). That being said, I was unable to update, so today I bring you quotes for Day 12 and Day 13.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” 

 

There are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to matters of love. To love someone can be a risk. You are risking your heart and the possibility of being hurt. But to never take the risk, to never allow your heart to be left vulnerable, also means you never allow yourself the opportunity to feel love. And without love, you will also never be given the chance to feel whole. Yes, you will hurt, you will cry, you will wonder at one point if it was all worth it. But when you look back on the times where you allowed for love, I believe that in the end it will all be worth it. There is no greater feeling than to love and to be loved. So take the risk, be vulnerable and in the end take the chance for what can be great.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

Over the years, I have had many ideas and plans where and what I would be doing in my life. As I was graduating high school, I remember distinctly swearing I would never be a teacher. Many people said I would make a fantastic teacher, but I had other plans with what I thought I would be doing with my life. In my early 20′s my life starting taking a different path, and I realized that teaching is what I am meant to do and where my heart and passion were. As I was going through my education to become a teacher, I swore I would never teach Kindergarten. Nothing against Kindergarten, I just felt I wasn’t made for it. As I was completing my schooling and deciding where to begin my post graduate life, I was applying to many different places around the country, yet I never considered Florida as an option.

This was the thoughts I had as of July 2012. A month later, I was offered a teaching job in Florida for 1st grade, which I took. A month after that, to balance numbers, I was moved to Kindergarten. So in review, I swore I would never be a teacher, I would never teach Kindergarten, and I never considered Florida as a place I wanted to live, yet here I am living in Palm Beach, teaching Kindergarten, and absolutely loving every minute of it.

I never intended to be where I am right now, but looking back I couldn’t imagine my life anywhere else I am exactly where I need to be.

~Elizabeth