Blog Carnival Special Edition--Personal Narratives

Your personal narratives are awesome. That's why we're doing this special edition of the blog carnival.

Click on the first sentences below to take you to the narrative. I thought your first sentences would be a great teaser to the whole essay. Here they are (in no particular order):

1. “If I died, would you cry?”; this was the question my mother always asked me. I didn’t understand why at the time, but now I realize that I’m not as fortunate as others. (Tim H)
2. I sat in the back of a dark colored van. (Caley M)
3. My parents probably thought that I’d fall asleep soon after the movie started. (Wyatt G)
4. The intense rays of the summer sun beat down on me and bake my skin golden brown as salty sweat droplets run down my brow. (Megan M)
5. Laughter erupted in the room as I sat quietly on the couch watching as Ella, the youngest out of four girls that I was taking care of, made a silly mistake in the game that she and her cousins were playing with my older sister. (Ryleigh T)
6. “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.” (Davis W)
7. As I struggle to keep my eyes open, darkness surrounds me from every direction. (Justin N.)
8. Waiting. makeup. waiting. hairspray. waiting.  fittings. waiting. Hours of endless waiting all leading up to ONE 30 second walk. (Carly H)
9. The day had been going really well. (Sam V)
10. “Always say yes. Never miss out on an opportunity, even if it might seem like a smallinsignificant experience.” (Sarah M.)
11. This year I have taken up mountain biking and I can say with all honesty that it was the best decision of my life. (Mitch T)
12. There was a time when I didn’t know what music was, and when I could not feel the power it possessed within me. (Kay-Kay R)
13. “Girls are gross.” (Bella B)
14. I’ve always loved traveling and seeing other countries, but it’s a completely different feeling when you’re traveling to another country to live in it for a year. (Shira W)
15. Would I always be left feeling breathless, as if I was playing an impossible game of tag in which I would never catch up? (Lauren P)
16. Adversity has as many different faces as the people it affects. (Cory M)
17. At the age of 16, Rayne Crossen existed in my life as a test of patience and a constant reminder that everyone deserves compassion. (Kali C)
18. 1. I remember vividly the fear and anxiety starting to set in during the overseas flight in January 2012. (Eric K)
19. 1. It was mid-jump and I was having the time of my life. (Christian P)
20. 1. I had stepped through a time machine. (Chris R)
21. 1. It started when I felt a wet sensation on my neck. (Alex S)
22. 1. 1. 1. All is silent, meaningless, then filled with a voice shouting for help. (Adam T)
23. To really understand dyslexia you have to imagine words that are alive and hiding among nonsense filled sentences. (Kenna B)
24. The ball pit. We were at the ball pit which was one of my favorite places in the world. (MacLean F)

5th hour, Blog Carnival Edition 1: Money and Happiness

Blog Carnival Edition 1

The Pursuit of Happiness: 

Do we need money to be happy? 

I wish to live my life unfocused on material goods. I wish to work for fulfillment, not for money. I have said often how lucky I am that the thing I do for "work" is the thing I would choose to do if money didn't matter. (Yep, I am THAT much of a teacher geek--I love my job.)

My husband and I have one car. It's a 2002 Honda Civic with 130,000 miles on it. It gets 40 miles to the gallon. We literally spend less each month on our car (including gas) than we spend on our cell phones.

Every year I work to simplify (John argues, "We are creating a world in which not only is money king, but it is god, president and all other things wrapped into one."), to get rid of the stuff laying around my house that we never use, to cull things down to the absolute necessities, to have a coffee table with nothing upon it, a dresser top that is wide-open space. Visual clutter is more than I can handle in my home when my mind constantly carries so many ideas around in it.

Even with my avowed dedication to not spend money on stuff that would clutter my home, I still cannot claim total freedom from the desire for the kind of stuff that money can buy. We have eleven Apple products in our home (ELEVEN). Ever since I drove a friend's Mini Cooper last November, I've dreamed of having one of my own. I love scarves and have several and keep buying more. I love to go out to eat. I love to travel.

All of these things require money. (Jesus reminds us that money gives people opportunities that they would not have without money, but Cory argues, "Money can provide minimal joy, but with it brings unforeseen problems.")

But how much is my happiness tied up in these material things? (Reid claims that "Happiness is different to every person. One thing's for certain, though, happiness cannot be bought.")

So what does make me truly happy?

I was pretty happy this afternoon hiking in Chautauqua Park with my daughter. (Garrett concludes that "social interaction is a bigger factor to being happy than money is.") She chattered away as we hiked up the trail, sharing with me the thoughts that were bouncing around in her head. We laughed at our dog as she skipped along proudly with the stick she found. The air was perfect--warm but not hot. A slight cool edge sneaking in reminding us that fall is coming. There were hints of leaves changing color already. I was happy.

And maybe, just maybe, happiness is not our pursuit. (Cami says, "I honestly have found that it is not happiness we should be in pursuit of, but understanding.")

Maybe it's understanding

or connection

or natural beauty

or leaving a positive impact on the others in our lives

or following your bliss, whatever that may be.


What makes YOU happy?

(read the blog posts, leave comments for the bloggers, and leave your thoughts here as well!)

3rd hour Blog Carnival Edition 1: Hitchhiking and Nonconformity

Blog Carnival Edition 1

Hitchhiking while everyone else is driving: 
What does it mean to be a nonconformist?

Are we lemmings? (Gabe ponders the definition of nonconformist, talks about the drawbacks of being a lemming, and argues that "the nonconformists really make the world tick.")

We just might be if we blindly follow what others around us do.

No matter what you think of Chris McCandless, in him we have an example of a nonconformist.

I mean, he burns his money.

If that isn't violently symbolic of his need to escape what everyone else is doing, then I don't know what is.

He is a hitchhiker. (MacLean explores the benefits of hitchhiking and Kenna reviews the history of hitchhiking and suggests that it might make more sense for people to simply use public transportation.)

Literally he hitchhiked to get from here to there. (Haimei reflects on her own experiences hitchhiking and Eric tells a couple of stories about hitchhiking and then asks, would YOU pick up a hitchhiker?)

But figuratively as well--he found a way to carry himself toward adventure without doing it the way most people do, like with plane tickets and enough food and other people and stuff.

And as Stacey reminds us, "[Non]conformity can be a good and bad thing, but in the case of Alex in Into the Wild it was a life ending mistake."

So, what do you think? Are YOU a nonconformist, or are you a lemming? Which should you be? Why?

(read the blog carnival submissions, leave comments on those posts, and share your thoughts in the comments below)

Welcome to my blog!

Greetings!
Herein lie the musings of one high school language arts teacher, musings to share with her students as they all take an adventure into Web 2.0 writing land.

I believe that one must be a writer in order to teach others to write. That is why I write alongside my students, so I may be fully engaged in the process as a writer, able to help them navigate it (and they help me navigate writing too!).

I aim to write every single day in my writer's notebook. I don't always achieve that, but opening up space in my life to write is important. The more I do this, the more I look at my world through the eyes of a writer, and the more I find I have to write about. When I have a regular writing practice in play, I collect stories all day to write about and can't wait to sit down and write. But I lose this when I don't write every day.

Why do we write? Well, to be heard mainly. To know we exist in the cacophony of our world. To think things through. To use words to add substance to our thoughts, to make the amorphous more concrete. To explore. To wonder. To create. Why do you write? (leave thoughts in the comments below)