POETIC EMPIRICIST’S 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY The Beginning Was an Open Window Ten years ago, in 2011, I was grieving the loss of my beloved career and workplace. I had been teaching a handful of different science classes, day, night, and online, to adult learners. It was my dream job! Each group needed different levels and …
POST-HIATUS THOUGHTS AND 12 MONTH OLD PHONE NOTES TW: Suicide So, it’s been a long bit of time since I’ve written, for the public at least. I just scrolled through all the old “notes” on my phone. There were half-a-dozen very lengthy entries, mostly just blowing off steam. Everything I’ve held sacred, everything I teach, …
GUARDING YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELLBEING If you’re prone to worry about everything, like me, then having a child will only exponentially amplify every possible worrisome scenario! Thankfully, I am also a rational person who likes to be productive, so I quickly talk my mind off of 100 different ledges a week. My whole pregnancy, …
DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION, TRUTH AND BELIEF The hot button topics dividing our nation used to be considered impolite to talk about. Religion and politics, this nation was founded on the separation of church and state. At the same time, in certain circles, Science is treated as an untouchable, fringe subject. Why did the …
THE LEARNING WE DO OVER A LIFETIME The Curve What’s the connection between Medieval Europe, lobsters, and Aztec culture? For me, these are subjects I enjoyed learning about in excruciating detail for different college classes, only to rapidly forget 90% of the information. Do I consider that a waste, like many students I taught, who …
FIVE CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE ARTIST IN ALL OF US To those who say they aren’t artistic or creative, I say: I don’t believe you; there is something you do that’s an art, maybe it’s the way you dress, speak, cook, build, play, problem solve or think. Almost any activity can be done in an artistic …
OPEN-MINDED SKEPTICS ARE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Toasting Moderation I was raised with a grandmother who praised moderation. In her pontification, she would usually be referring to food or alcoholic beverages. Ironically, she never drank, while her parents, immigrants from Italy, liberally drank the wine they produced. Moderation would be the balanced sweet spot between …
A WANT AND A NEED “If You Wanted to Live on the Moon, What Would You Need?” I’ve asked this brainstorming question to many different groups of students from adults to kindergartners and their answers are about the same: air, water, food, shelter, clothing. My point was to establish how very little we all need …
LAUGHTER SOFTENED EVEN THE TOUGHEST PARTS OF LIFE Bowl of Cherries We’ve heard it said and, at times, we’ve all experienced: “life isn’t easy”. I was raised by two very young parents who were in over their heads. They made it work and worked themselves to the bone to give us a wonderful childhood. Their …
LOOKING AT LOVE “Love. You were created through love and you were born wired to love. That is what makes the human experience worthwhile.” How to Combat Suffering Buddhism was the first philosophy/religion to appeal to me, despite being raised catholic. I was in high school when I purchased a copy of Herman Hesse’s “Siddhartha”. …
INTENTIONALLY WORKING OUT DREAMS Body in Motion As a Science teacher I’m cognizant of how the Law of Inertia impacts me, and that would be the law that says: bodies in motion want to stay in motion, while bodies at rest want to stay at rest. I felt pretty lousy the first trimester of this …
WATER OVER ROCK BLOG INTRODUCTION Being Water The thing about water over a rock is, yes, the water shapes the rock over time, but the water itself is ever changing. This blog will be as much about the changes I need to make in my life as I become a mother, as it is about …
