A Photo a Day: My Daily Sustenance, Day 270

Yesterday I needed a prompt for writing.  For quite a while I have neglected doing daily writing.  Albeit I feel a loss when I don't write, I just hadn't had the gumption to parcel time for sitting and writing.  All the authors who write about writing say, "Just do it!" Natalie Goldberg, whose book into which I delved recently, tells writers to write continuously for fifteen minutes.  Set a timer and write!  Even though she says that it's okay if one writes that one doesn't know what to write, I find that extremely difficult to do.  So I got out my old stand-by THE AWE-MANAC, A Daily Dose of Wonder by Jill Badonsky.  I turned to the page with September 25 entitled at the top, and jumped in with both feet. The "Journal Juju" section asks the reader/writer to relate when one felt valued and bring the feeling of being valued into the present moment.  So, here is what I wrote:

Feeling Valued

Feeling valued is, I think, a life skill that one is taught either directly or by the way one is treated. Of course, it could be both.  There are, in teaching, many avenues the teacher can take to awaken the desire for learning in one’s students.  During my time as a teacher, we were told that there were different learning styles.  The ones presented to us were these: auditory, visual and kinesthetic.  I discovered for myself that the visual and kinesthetic style were my own way of learning.  I have found however that I can listen to spiritual discs in the car and obtain some enlightenment.  I know that I would probably receive more if I took notes while listening.  The kinesthetic part of writing plus the visual of looking at the notes increases my retaining what I have heard.  

Have I strayed from the original quest of my feeling valued?  Perhaps. But the training I received from the Workshop Way seminar I attended one summer more than twenty years ago made me able to recognize when I had done well without needing external affirmation.  Consequently, since this was considered a life skill by Sister Grace Pilon who formed the philosophy of Workshop Way, I taught and illustrated it in my classroom.  So let’s see if I can develop a list. 

I felt valued when...

• I received an evaluation by my principal praising my willingness to acquaint myself with new approaches to teaching.
• my great-granddaughter hugged me without prompting from either her mother or me.
• my daughter came home early from work and accompanied me to a dinner.
• I was told that I’m loved by my friends.
• I received a phone call to check how I’m doing from my granddaughters.
• I was invited to a meal at one of my children’s home.
•    positive comment was left on my blog.
• a request for getting to know me was left in a Facebook message for me.