Dream on

Dream on, until your dreams come true. A catchy phrase from Aerosmith since 1973, a reminder for me today.
Most of us give up on our dreams at one point or another. Dreams are not easy to follow, nor is it always possible to turn them into reality. Dreaming with fame, beauty, money and power is easy to do, but difficult to accomplish. What dreams are worth following? How and when to give up on one's dreams?
Successful people are dreamers first. How did they turn their dream into a reality? Did they keep dreaming on until their dream came true? Maybe not. The first step might be calling it an idea, instead of a dream. Then it has to have a reasonable shape to become a reality. 
I turn my back on my One dream often, but I have not given it up. Will I dream on, dream on until my dream comes true? It is time I call it a project and start working on it.

Embracing dull days

So how do you update your facebook status when you have had a dull day? Work was the same as always, dinner was bland, conversation was inconsequential, and your playlists didn't do anything for you? In today's day is almost shameful to recognize that we all have dull days.
What to do with them? I choose to be thankful instead of bitter. Dullness today means a stable job, drama-free relationships, and the scarse opportunity for thinking, instead of filling my head with someone else's thoughts. A dull day is a wake up call: I made the choices today, but I know that I can make better ones tomorrow. What do you choose to do?

How deep? How honest?

Small talk gets old quickly. It gets even older with your coworkers. You see them every day, you 'small talk' a little, but then you want to move on...
How deep and how honest do you want to keep lunch time conversations? Past the weather, the reality show, the children, other coworkers, and the boss, there will always be an opportunity to speak one's mind. Your conversation about favorite food might turn to politics, religion, or career paths. Even though a little riskier, these subjects are still safe. Things get a little heavier when someone shares an intimacy of some sort, or, even worst, throws a question about your private life. How deep do you go? How honest do you get?

How to foster 'that' Christmas spirit

Yes, the spirit that irradiates harmony, peace, love, and a genuine desire of giving and sharing. The one that the movies promote: the spirit that invites people to hug, smile, forgive, and love unconditionally. The spirit that still remembers 'the reason for the season'.
More times than not, this Christmas spirit is tainted with the stress of shopping, decorating, party planning, and gift giving. How to accomplish the material tasks without missing 'the spirit'?

The perks of being a teacher

* Children actually say things like "I want to be like you when I grow up", or "I want to be in your classroom forever!
* Before and after school, you have a very decent workspace
* You have the ability to awe children with food coloring, or with coke and Menthos
* You learn to forgive and forget from the experts
* You get to see some spectacular sunrises during your commute
* You might beat the traffic going back home
* You have summer and spring break off! 
* Reading children's books is part of your job!
* You become grateful 
* How old you are depends on how young your students are
* You will actually make a difference in someone's life 

Turkey hangover...

I am going to take a wild guess and say that most of the immigrants that come to the US also celebrate Thanksgiving. Not that this is the Promised Land, or that problems end when coming to this country, but it presents a chance to start over. For most, it is a golden opportunity. For others, however, the wrong step in a career, or simply a decent hideaway from a difficult life elsewhere.
Whatever their reasons, Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to pause and think about received blessings. A steady job, a peaceful neighborhood, better education for the children, healthier friendships, a chance to properly feed the family... Looking from a certain perspective, almost everyone has one or more reasons to be thankful.
On top of that, mostly everyone got two, maybe three days off. I am surely grateful for that!
 

Online stress

So after browsing and making a lot of comparisons, you click the 'checkout' button and wait for your online confirmation and paperless tickets. Is there anything else to think about when buying airline tickets on the internet? I didn't think so either, until today.
For the last 24 hours, a friend has been waiting for a confirmation email that might or might not make its way to her inbox. After buying some holiday tickets online, she received an email asking for additional information. Surprisingly, this information included a copy of her credit card and her driver's license. Unwillingly, but without options, she sent the information and kept waiting for her paperless tickets. To her dismay, she had to wait over 10 hours before her tickets were confirmed.
Now that the panic over the ticket is over, she fears for her identity. Not only there is a copy of her ID and credit card in an online file, but who knows where in the world wide web is her information being classified, confirmed and checked. That is what I call Online stress.

What would you do?

It was 2002 when I first saw 'Office Space', a movie about unhappy office workers. At a point, the main character tells his neighbor that he wishes to have one million dollars, so he does not have to do anything. "You don't need a million dollars to do nothing", the neighbor responds.
Oftentimes, I wish I had all the day to myself, so I can do the things I want to do. Then I remember the movie's neighbor. Would I accomplish what I want, or would I be oppressed with all this unscheduled time? What would you do with 24 hours to yourself? Peter's response...

The faces of poverty

After working at a public school in Dallas for 8 years, I wonder about the many faces of poverty. At my school, it does not appear in the shape of hungry kids or dirty uniforms. Less than one third of my students ask for breakfast in the classroom. They all bring clean clothes and enough supplies for the year.
Poverty is only evident when children talk about their living conditions. Here and there, I hear about ill parents, multiple families living together, violent neighbors, and run down houses shared by rodents and insects.
In preparation for Thanksgiving, our students shared the canned goods they have at home. In return, some of them received a colorful box with a frozen turkey and, possibly, some of the cans they gave. It is a nice gesture, but I wonder... are we really fulfilling a need, or are we missing the real face of our students' poverty?  

The sun also rises

One post a day. One worthy thought a day. Hemingway quoted Ecclesiastes, and I will too: "The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." How, then, not to write about what happens in between?