#4 Movie Night? Look for Intouchables ...

Planning to see a movie this weekend?  You might want to check out Intouchables.  This is an extremely successful French film with subtitles (released November, 2011). Based on a true story,  You Changed My Life by Abdel Sellou, Intouchables is a heart-warming, uplifting, "warm fuzzy" kind of a movie that has received good reviews here in North America.

The story is about a wealthy, but depressed, French paraplegic who, on a whim, hires a young, unemployed Sudanese man as his caretaker.  They develop a strong bond and despite social and economic differences, each helps the other find ultimate happiness.

Click here to view the trailer for Intouchables.

#3 Shredding. UGH!!

Sifting, sorting, shredding copies of old report card comments, mark sheets and day plans.  Saving a forest?  Maybe, but NOT fun.  I figure it's a right of passage as I shed/shred a career and enter retirement. One gem surfaced - a poem written for a fellow teacher six years ago.  Last spring, I objected to the word "retirement".  "Transition" was a better word, I thought. Maybe retirement's not so bad after all.

RETIREMENT

Relax!  Reflect!  

Embrace change.

Try new things...

Indulge your creative side.

Remember old friends.

Enjoy the moment.

Make it happen!

Engage your senses.

Nurture relationships.

Toast LIFE!

#2 Shhh! Don't wake the princess!

Today, as Queen Mother, I'm in charge of the castle. As my little princess goes down for a nap, I'm reminded of life a generation ago when my days were totally centred around another's most basic needs of food, sleep, a clean diaper, protection and love.  It grounds you in a way no other experience can.  If everyone started life with that feeling of someone else's unconditional love and protection and then had that chance to "pass it on", our world would be a better place.  Putting others ahead of yourself - as Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing!" 

#1 "This is the practice school of writing...

...Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don’t want to run and you resist every step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don’t wait around for inspiration and a deep desire to run … That’s how writing is too … One of the main aims in writing practice is to learn to trust your own mind and body..."

 Writing Down the Bones  by Natalie Goldberg

100 days... 100 words...  by 1:00 p.m.

Don't dream.  Do.

Natalie Goldberg