My one little word for 2020 is MOMENTS. As the most recent Two Writing Teachers co-author, this will be my first time participating in the annual #OneLittleWord series. Selecting a word to guide my next year was not an easy feat. In my search, I considered where I needed and wanted to grow and wondered if that just right word, tasked with guiding my year, even existed. I explored many possibilities, but much like anything meant to be, the word MOMENTS continued finding its way back into my consciousness. The word MOMENTS pulled my attention for many reasons. When I began to contemplate the times I found it to be important in my life, it became more and more clear. I began to think about how one moment can change the very core of your being. One simple moment is all it takes. It took just a moment for me to decide to go back to school and become a teacher, a moment to hold my breath and hit "publish" on my laptop for the first time, and just a moment to hold my son for the first time and experience love, fear, and hope all wrapped up into one... just one moment. Time is our most precious resource. We have one life. Entrepreneur and author, Gary Vaynerchuk, often shares that “the biggest poison in us is regret.” I can’t think of anything more significant than regretting a moment missed. It is a simple truth we can easily forget. I’ll be the first to admit that I have at times allowed the busyness of life shuffle me into rushed frenzies or pull me into places of meaningless conflict. When we become too busy with life, it seems that many of us tend to forget to live our moments fully. There are moments in our lives that are forced upon us and bring us to a grinding halt. They change us down to our core, whether we are ready or not. However, most of our moments come as continuous open opportunities to steer our lives in the direction we want to move. And, so, for the next year, I plan to focus on living fully my MOMENTS, those I at least decide for myself. In 2020, I will practice purposeful moments to: 1. Breathe outside, because according to author, Austin Kleon, “demons hate fresh air.” 2. Laugh, often. 3. Unplug every once in a while, because according to writer, Anne Lamott, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes―including you.” 4. Gift myself grace. The learning process can be messy. 5. Create authentic and memorable learning experiences for my students, often. 6. Find quiet. Quiet is good for my soul. 7. Love what I do. It’s one way to teach others to love what they do. We are the sum of our experiences, our MOMENTS. The moments I will work to create will matter these next months as much as they will matter when I am old and grey. Every moment I can this next year and after, I will practice stepping into my skin with purpose, living fully, and finding comfort in my process.
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AuthorMarina Rodriguez (@mrodz308) is a California native, dual language teacher, National Writing Project, Heart of Texas Writing Project Teacher Consultant, Kidblog Ambassador, and co-author of Two Writing Teachers. Archives
December 2019
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