Inspiration from David

So...I have mentioned that I am involved in a writers group that meets regularly on Sunday mornings at the local Starbucks.  We are all teachers and writers that work in the same building.  We lovingly refer to our time together as "Church."  The group consists of myself, my wife, and our great friends Jessica and David.

Since we were not able to meet yesterday for various reasons, we had Church today.

David took us on a wonderful journey through introspection.  He attended a training and from the ideas expressed, he created this incredible little reminder booklet that held a mix of what he learned from the training along side his own personal beliefs about education.  This is to say that the book is filled with reminders to ourselves about what we value...not a calendar of reminders.

He showed it off during our show and tell time at our last Church meeting. (There really isn't a show and tell time, but that is what it felt like).  We all were in love with the idea and the finished product.

So...

For the past week, we have been collected needed items for this project.   We ordered new 9x9 notebooks with cool paper inside.  I ordered new colored pencils with a fancy colored pencil sharpener.  And...we got tabs to sort our notebooks.

Well, today was the meeting.  It was inspirational.  David took us through his process in a caring and reflective way that only David can.  Once we went over some of the basics, the four of us were at work.  We worked for two hours in silence with the exception of a few questions or reflections.  But we did this together.  It would NOT have been the same had we did it in our own classrooms or offices at home.  The time spent was inspired to say the least.  In fact, one might say that it felt blessed.

Two hours took us just into the process of creating the reminder/inspiration book that holds our beliefs as they pertain to our teaching and our Authentic Selves.  This process will be a Work in Progress for quite some time, I am sure.

I am lucky to have this group.  I am lucky to have David.  I am lucky to have vehicles of inspiration.

I am very aware of this that I feel lucky to have.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites