Field trips

Do you remember lining up to get on the yellow school bus for a day at the museum or  zoo? Growing up in Buffalo, NY, I remember field trips to the Albright Knox Art Gallery, the Wonder Bread factory, the Niagara Falls Power Plant, and, in high school, a train ride to Corning Glass. For our 8th grade Earth Science class, I have a vague recollection of going to Letchworth State Park, where we would have looked at various historical and geological stratum as we climbed paths up and down a hill, found mica, and explored the forests. 

Undoubtedly, there were permission slips and a long list of logistics for each trip to happen and be successful. From a kid's perspective, the process included growing excitement, and perhaps anxiety, as the day for the field trip got closer. In the early grades, there were buddies and handholding, and later, a count off to make sure no one was left behind. Probably there some pushing and shoving during the event. Maybe we sang on the bus. For sure, there was homework and a quiz based on what we saw.

What was common to those outings was that learning became more of an adventure, not just facts from books or one person. It was fun. Schools and all sorts of other venues like museums, have now incorporated teaching techniques to make learning more of a hands on, field trip experience. Fun engagement is now the norm, rather than a one day exception.  Adults go on longer field trips through vacations by Road Scholars, the National Geographic expeditions and other companies.

The purchase of a new iPhone made me realize I need a field trip to Appleland. I know that tutorials exist, but what I need first is a way to find the excitement for such a field trip rather than the dread and defeat I am feeling as I prepare to figure out the apps, buttons, sounds and images on this communications/learning/entertainment device I can hold in my hand. I'd rather be holding my field trip buddy's hand in anticipation of walking into the Apple store than all the confusing options I'll find inside. Oh well, I'm sure along the way I'll find, at least metaphorically, some mica amid the layers of programming. And, I hope, some fun.

Marilyn

Finding those cozy moments

My idea of cozy and yours might be different, but I'll bet the feeling is the same. Cozy is an intimate connection, be it with self or something or someone. A partner, a pet, the daily tending of a bonsai, turning the page in a favorite book. There's a contentedness, a sigh of a momentary letting go and just being. 

My 99 year old dear friend received lots of flowers for her recent birthday. She enjoyed each one as she placed them in vases around the house. She then appreciated them throughout the day. As she drank her morning cup of coffee, she gazed at the sunny daffodil on the kitchen table. In the afternoon, she marveled at how the sun fell on the blue iris in the living room. And, she enjoyed telling me about those moments, allowing me to share in the cozy points of her day. I could picture what she described. I could enter that space of pleasure with her. Her cozy moments became mine as well.

We need more coziness in our lives. Or, perhaps we just need to recognize and appreciate what it is already there. This week, today, look for those brief cozy breaks in the mundane, in the routine, in the craziness. Find them. Appreciate them. Pass them on.

Marilyn

Sunrise/Sunset

One of my favorite things this time of year is watching the morning sky. Driving east on the Eisenhower into the City on my way to work, I see the pinks and whites and hues of blue that range from bright to baby to grey, along with a bit of orangish yellow as the sun rises above the skyline of Chicago. Each sunrise says look, face things, do.

People who know me know that I am really a sunset person. A sunset has a different kind of feeling than the sunrise. Sunsets bring a sense of accomplishment, of closing, a cozy let's-settle-in-a comfy-chair. I've seen more sunsets than sunrises and over various bodies of water and landscapes around the country and somewhat around the world. 

Well, maybe I've just paid more attention to sunsets. Now, when according to the calendar I'm in the sunset of my life, I'm studying sunrises more. Perhaps because sunrises represent beginnings they have tweaked my interest. I'm paying closer attention because I'm feeling a sunrise in different parts of my life. It's been nearly a year since the word cancer was mentioned. It's gone, cut out in one final action, and the odds are it won't come back. The fact I had it, didn't know I had it, and got rid of it relatively easily is something I've been mulling in the nether regions of my brain for months. Something finally shifted inside to allow me to focus on personal sunrises. Yesterday was Easter. Last Tuesday was the start of Passover. Both mark a sunrise in faith and in history. But they came with a cost, following a very dark sunset. Today there is a new sunrise where I work. We have a new boss, so it's beginnings professionally also.

Later this year I plan on seeing glorious sunsets flowing into spectacular night skies out West. But, I will make sure that I'm up to enjoy some sunrises as well. It's good, but not necessarily an easy choice, to focus on beginnings. Where are you? Are there any good sunrises you can concentrate on for today?

Marilyn

A new pair of glasses

After my cataract surgery more than a decade ago, I still needed glasses for reading. Over the years I accumulated a great collection of eyeware in every color. Some had patterns or designs and some had seasonal themes. They spruced up my wardrobe and my spirits. It was hard for me to go back to regular all-the-time bifocals, but I have come to realize that everyone's eyesight needs some type of correction. Each of us, even the most sainted among us, needs to view some part of humanity differently because the way we currently look at it is skewed. Most likely we developed that outlook during our upbringing or as a result of some trauma. We retain it because we have never thought about it, had it challenged or because to change our perspective seems threatening and scary.

But, even with correction, our vision about certain things will never be 20/20. I don't think one culture can truly see the intricate layers of another culture's view of the world and how it has seeped into the dna of its peoples. Perhaps the best we can ever have is a better appreciation of another's outlook. In the initial draft of this musing I have a long paragraph on wanting our governor to trade his pair of glasses with a refugee who was once a respected leader in his village, or having the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Canterbury switch spectacles, well you get the idea. My proposal was to force people to have a different perspective for a short period of time, and then figure they would emerge from that exercise a better version of themselves. Perhaps that's clever and a fun use of a few minutes conversation, but ultimately a futile hope.

To improve the vision of the future, I need to start with me. I need to acknowledge the blindspots on my own glasses, accepting that blindspots usually focus on an area where we are not self aware. Ugh. Facing such a truth on a Monday morning is daunting, but when I read the headlines and see what is happening around the globe, I know that change starts we me somehow finding a new pair of glasses to wear. If you are also ready to improve your vision, then the prospect doesn't seem so challenging or the dream so blurry.

Marilyn

I didn't get the memo

When two women in the office are wearing the same color and I am not, I will often joke, "I didn't get the memo!" My young colleagues smile indulgently and move on. But, it reminds me that each of us, even the most confident, can sometimes feel as though everyone else is on the same page, they know something that we don't. We didn't get the memo. So, if you sometimes feel that way:

To: Those who often feel you missed the memo

From: A fellow traveler

Re: Facts about memos

Date: April 3, 2017

1. Memorandum comes from Latin and means something to be remembered. Usually that something falls into one of two categories: something that is an FYI, such as the office will be closed on Monday in observation of Memorial Day, or a policy, like effective next Wednesday, all residents must remove and keep all paraphernalia from the hallway or items will be discarded. 

2. The subject matter is not always clear. There are classes on how to headline your memo (or email) to get more people to open or read them. You may not always know that a memo applies to you and it not your fault if the writer didn't make it clear.

3. To be effective, memos need also to be timely. There were memos early in my life, in my career, that I thought I would get to later. But, here I am, decades later, wondering why I didn't save more for retirement or spend more time on a relationship or, well, the regret list is long.

4. Some memos seem to be written in a foreign language. These days it is emojis, abbreviations and phrases involving people I have never heard of. I give myself permission to ignore those or to learn what parts of that language I want to understand. LOL.

5. There are too many memos. Technology has made it possible for everyone to be a profuse memo writer and believe that others must read and comment. In two weeks I will have a new boss. He has asked me to pay attention to the relevant local or national daily, weekly or monthly memos that cross our desks. So far I'm at 54.

6. The memo was too long. Two years ago I implemented a Monday morning email at work to give highlights of the coming week. It includes general news, welcomes and introduces new employees, informs about important meetings people are hosting or attending, who will be out of the office, who is on kitchen duty and so on. The concept started small and has grown. One problem is that as a former writer of policies and procedures it is hard for me to not write sentences. As informative as this regular newsbrief is, I'm sure many colleagues do not read it because of its length.

7. There were memos whose directions made sense and I attempt to follow. I try to not buy gas on the weekends. I usually have a shopping list for the grocery store and don't go shopping when I'm hungry, but I am still susceptible to impulse buys. I try to pay more attention to quality than quantity.

8. The subject matter was boring or not my cup of tea. Most memos about pop culture or sports I ignore but it is sure fun occasionally to pick up a People magazine in the dentist's office. I don't know 95% of the people mentioned but I enjoy seeing what I'm missing. In some areas I don't mind being out of the loop or feel bad that I didn't get the memo.

Now, excuse me, after sharing all my insights on the subject I will now research how to write a memo in today's world. If I find any helpful tips, I'll pass them along. Meanwhile, perhaps there is someone you know who would enjoy getting a hello memo from you. Go make someone feel included, which is where this all started.

Marilyn