147 Comments
Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

I’m constantly amazed that every word written in the English language is done so using an Alphabet of just twenty six letters.

My gratitude to you Suleika, and you, Maggie, because you both just made this Sunday morning a good day with what you shared here.

Suleika, I came across this poem a few years ago and I thought of it when I read your post this morning.

Imaginary Conversation

Linda Pastan - 1932-2023

You tell me to live each day

as if it were my last. This is in the kitchen

where before coffee I complain

of the day ahead—that obstacle race

of minutes and hours,

grocery stores and doctors.

But why the last? I ask. Why not

live each day as if it were the first—

all raw astonishment, Eve rubbing

her eyes awake that first morning,

the sun coming up

like an ingénue in the east?

You grind the coffee

with the small roar of a mind

trying to clear itself. I set

the table, glance out the window

where dew has baptized every

living surface.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

Dynamic cohort journaling sounds highly inspiring! I'm in. Children...they are my lifeblood. I taught young children for 29 years, and one of my all-time favorite moments was when beautiful, little, four-year-old Rashad looked up at me (his then 50-something, gauze skirt-wearing, silver braided, toe sandaled teacher) and said, "Miss Mary, you are a really good rapper." I laughed with such a joy; we hugged and shared a mutual respect at that moment that I will always treasure. (I used to make up rhyming songs to encourage the children to line up, put the cap on the glue sticks, etc...such fun to be spontaneous and have to think on my feet.) The children loved my songs. They would even request them!

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt

“I’m trying to look at everything around me with fresh eyes, to seek out and hold onto wonder.” Me too, Suleika! Thank you for the reminder.🙏🏾

Year's ago, I was at work in a heap of tears because my first cat (as an adult) got sick, and I was afraid that he would have to be put down. My boss’ daughter had come into her office after being dropped off by her dad, saw me crying, and said, “Why is Ms. Tammy crying?” My boss replied, “Her cat is very sick, and she’s upset” to which her daughter replied, “Don’t stay here and cry, Ms. Tammy. Go home and play with Victor while you can.”

Children make things simple, don’t they?

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

What a child has taught me! I realized while writing about my one month in a mental illness facility, for a storytelling performance, that my 18 years old son, showed me being present for me, each time he visited me while being so scared for his mamma”. He showed me the ability of being present for someone else thru their crises, even though deep inside he was scared. It’s not all about me, but having the courage to be present for others no matter how scared I am.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Carmen Radley

Prompt 234 - Write about a time a child taught you about, or reminded you of, something important in life.

I am terribly blessed with my current part-time job as a custodian at an elementary school. I look forward to working my evening shift because I can spend a few moments interacting with the kids as they go home. And as I enter the classrooms to empty trash and recycling, the teachers are grateful for a brief conversation – they yearn for some “adult” time at the end of the day. The kids are funny, and the teachers are family.

I needed a job to get me out of the house. “Living” in isolation for 7 years after my wife died was affecting my sanity, my balance, my sense of wonder and hope. Life had no meaning anymore.

That quickly changed when I started work at the school. These kids are so little! Like little people. They are in another world with no inclination of valuing others by worth, ability, appearance, or any other outward aspect. Each day is a new day – a clean slate. Each day they smile joyfully, eager to learn.

Soon, I realized that I was learning from them; they are my teachers. And they are full of surprises. One day, as I was moving my cart down the hall, a little girl ran up to me and asked, “Do you like science?” Thinking, wow, where did that come from, I answered: “I do!” She smiled, promptly turned around, and ran back down the hallway. I thought I had just encountered a fairy. What was going on in that little mind?

Another time, as I was moving down the hallway, again, with my bins, a little boy looked up and said: “Hi Mr. Dickinson. I like your shirt; it is full of colors”. That day I had worn a Hawaiian shirt that had bright red, yellow, blue, and purple colors.

Every day, as the kids get ready to go home, five or six will engage me in a conversation. Their lockers are across from the custodian office. All of them talk at the same time, each thinking they are the only one conversing. Each with a smile. “What are you doing this weekend, Mr. Dickinson”? “Do you have a dog?” “My family and I are making maple syrup this weekend.” “I have to shovel snow when I get home.” “Mr. Dickinson, can I have a piece of candy from your filing cabinet?” It lasts only about ten minutes and then the halls are silent.

When I work days, I help with lunch by opening milk cartons for tiny ones, or mopping up spilled milk, or passing out food. When the kids are done eating, they line up to empty their trays into a garbage bin. One time a little guy asked me: “Are you the new principal?” I smiled and said no. My co-worker laughed and said, “You should have said yes! Funny guy.

Each day, I am reminded of innocence, joy, hope, humor, and I am in awe. Once again, I go home tired after my shift, yet re-energized by the little ones. Thank God for kids.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

I, too, love the idea of journaling together.

My first thought about a child and wonder was a 6 year-old who went through three bone marrow transplants and ultimately did well. (I work as a hospital chaplain in oncology.)

One day her nurse came into her room and the child looked at her and said, "Could you imagine my life if I were an EKG lead?"

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt

Boy Wonder--This morning, upon waking, I received a kiss from the boy—the boy for whom kisses are yucky. The sweetest, softest little boy kiss on my sleeping mouth.

“Hey, mama?”

You look over and there, on the side of the buffet, he’s taped a collage of soldier’s and king’s men. He’s made a small world while you weren’t looking. While you were there, not here, while you were busy—busy missing this, missing him being him.

And then that moment’s gone, and he’s gone. And you’re here, and it breaks your heart, and you wish, you wish, you wish for him—little him, getting bigger every day.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

I was a sick child. I came down with meningitis when I was six. My temperature spiked to 106. Headaches. Listlessness. All the symptoms. My parents rushed me to the hospital, where I was doused with antibiotics. I remember almost every conscious minute of the two weeks I was there. That was when I began noticing things, which ultimately led me to becoming a writer. Wonder has informed my life. Whatever happened to me during my illness as a first grader changed me forever.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

Gosh, do I miss that feeling of creating art without ego or conscious thought. I used to spend hours in my room painting and drawing as a kid and still have art supplies waiting for me to return to play. Thank you for that reminder. And wow, three years of TIJ, the project and community that literally changed my life and put me on a new writing path with a new set of incredible friends. I’d love to reinvigorate my journaling practice with your new 30-day project, Suleika! xo

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Mar 12, 2023·edited Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

Community journaling would be an incentive to create with purpose. Currently I am writing daily haiku for the season of Lent. It’s a new experience realizing I can capture the essence of the day in three lines with carefully chosen words more than with pages and pages of prose. Quite liberating!

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

Thank you Suleika and Maggie for being so awesome. Maggie, what you do is amazing.

Journaling? Yes! I’m in!

Todays beautiful prompt.

The first thing that popped into my mind was a lovely memory of an act of kindness from a little girl. I suffer depression and before treatment I had bouts of crying. This could last for days into weeks. I was in a depressive mood one say while at a grocery store. As I was leaving all my change scattered in the parking lot. The sweetest little girl came over and picked up my chance and handed it back to me. My heart swelled from this sweet kind act. The little girl was an Angel in flesh. I thanked for and told her parents what a beautiful child their daughter was. The parents agreed. My faith was restored in humanity by thus act of kindness.

Thank you again for todays prompt. I’ll carry this sweet memory today when. I feel my cynicism creeping in.

Another memory that had stayed with me concerns art. I took a drawing class at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem New York. ( WCC is my happy place). The teacher is Allison Nichola who also has drawing safaris in South Africa. There was a mother in the group with a young daughter. The little girl drew but she picked up pieces of grass and nature findings to enhance what she was drawing. I was so taken with the girl just going with her heart and letting her drawing take shape. She was lovely.

Hope everyone enjoys the day. Looking forward to journaling together. Thank you for these weekly prompts and gratitude Fridays.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt, Carmen Radley

I specialize in treating an anxiety disorder called Selective Mutism. I am filled with joy and wonder when kids are able to use their voice with me. Many of these children may only have ever spoken to their mom or dad in the confines of their home. It's truly breath taking and never ceases to amaze me.

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While listening to the podcast, We Can Do Hard Things this week, author Glennon Doyle was referencing the angst that her 17-year-old was feeling on her 17th birthday, reflecting on the fact that she will never be 16 again. Glennon quoted Liz Gilbert telling her daughter, “we are like Russian nesting dolls, you will always be 16 and 15 and 14 and 13.” I guess the child(ren) who taught me things are the ones tucked away under 59 Russian dolls like the one who thought it was cool to put an iron on transfer of Tutankhamen on her jeans leg in 1974, who knew that leaving home at 18 and working at a psychiatric hospital was safer, who stood frozen while her drunk father dangled her cousin over the bannister by her ankle because moving might have caused him to let go. I love all these girls inside me, all these inner children, my loves, my teachers.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Holly Huitt

Another YES to journaling! The magic of the human mind is never more brilliant than in children who find amazement everywhere. The giggling of my grandson when I hide my face with a napkin and then "magically" reappear when I remove it! Asking my 6 year old granddaughter how her day at school was to have her reply "awesome"! The superlatives that are truly meant. The wonder of finding joy in creating and imagining. I get to feel that same way when my twin granddaughters and I talk about planning the fairy garden in my backyard. That spirit of wonder and discovery keeps me present and vital. A blessing.

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Carmen Radley

Maggie's story reminds me of a time my mother-in-law was stuck in traffic due to some heavy road construction. She was watching a small boy at the time, and 5 years old Jack was in the car with her. She was so frustrated and upset at the long delay, while Jack was so excited to see all trucks and heavy equipment. He said "WOW! What a lucky day!"

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Mar 12, 2023Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Carmen Radley

When my youngest son was about 6 years old one day as he was getting ready for school he said to me " mommy i'm really lucky huh? I said why? son. He said because I get all the clothes that my big brothers can't wear anymore and they give them all to me." That answer touched my heart for he did not need anything new or something that just he wanted , no he was thankful and grateful that he had hand me downs from the brothers he loved. It was so simple and refreshing.

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