Silence

One of the aspects of my life I recognize after my visit to Othona in October is a need for silence.  I do have times of silence in my day but often they are taken up by thoughts of work.  What I need to find is time for silent reflection.  I realized this immediately we arrived at Othona and have been thinking about it ever since.  Co-incidentally, a programme started on BBC on the Friday we returned, about 5 people who had gone into a silent retreat at a monastery in north Wales.  The 3 part series followed them through the time at the retreat and their re-entry into their daily lives.  If you live in the UK, you can watch the programme, which is called The Big Silence, on I-player.

So, have I found silence.  I came to realize that in fact I do have some silent times already.  One of them takes place when I swim.  I haven't swum regularly for nearly two weeks.  First it was because James and Naomi were visiting, then because I got a cold and either couldn't or didn't want to over do it.  I was very on edge and now I realize that it was not just because I missed the exercise but also because I missed the silent, reflection time.

(If you are reading this and the following comment is still here, it is because I haven't finished this post and will be back to it later.)

Having fun making movies!

I have been spending time at work looking at various websites to find the best, most interesting and most useful for our teachers.  Yesterday I was rather drawn in my Animoto.com and made two videos, one of my sister's wedding and one of our holiday in Wales this summer.  So now to show them to the world!

A relaxing week away

Last week was half term (6 weeks or so into a term we have a week's holiday) and Cliff and I went down to Othona, in Dorset to chill out and make chutneys, jams and breads.  What fun!  And what a lovely break from all media, including the Internet.  I highly recommend it to anyone.  Not knowing what is happening in the world and not being interrupted (by oneself or others) via various applications, is a heaven sent blessing.  Just alone with your thoughts and enjoying the simple conversation of others is a balm for the soul.

Sitting in silence.  I had forgotten how good that can be.  Each evening at Othona there is a chapel time.  On each occasion we sat for varying periods of time in silence.  There were moments when there were no thoughts going through my mind whatsoever.  No multi-tasking.  No trying so sort out several things at once.  Nothing!

Off on holiday for some reflection

It is interesting reading over what I have written recently. The first item I mentioned in my last posting - visiting Othona - is about to happen today. I am really looking forward to getting away! We were to have left yesterday but things came up and so we depart this morning. In that short time that we had at home yesterday instead of driving down to Dorset, I felt compelled to do work around the house. I really need a bit of a rest and I know I won't get it here. I also need some space to think and I always find that at Othona. So, more on the experience when I get back on Friday. In the meanwhile if you are interested in Othona, click here!

Where to go next?

Recently I reflected on what I had and had not done over the summer break. Since then I have been thinking about what I would like to accomplish over the time leading up to next summer's break. So, here goes!

1. I want to get back to visiting Othona on a regular basis. We haven't been in nearly two years and I miss it!

2. I want to write on a regular basis. This seems to be a re-occurring theme. I need to find at least an hour in every day to do so. I have some ideas on that.

3. I want to visit Naomi, James and Noah on a more regular basis. The coming weekend Cliff and I are going down on Friday afternoon and coming home Saturday evening, both ways by train. I find it hard to be away all weekend when I have school on the following morning. I'll see how this works and perhaps we will start doing it once a month.

4. I want to buy a bike and ride to work a few times a week. I don't think that it will happen because Cliff is so worried about me riding a bike in this country that he would sit a worry the whole time I was out. Alas!

(More to follow)

Back to the daily routine

Last Tuesday classes started in earnest and on the first morning I managed to nearly knock myself out. A good start for me! Let's hope that this isn't a sign of things to come. I don't think I'll go into how I did it, I feel rather foolish. Needless to say, my accident led to my line manager deciding that in deed, I did need a large monitor mounted on the wall in the library, as I had been asking for for nearly a year. I stayed home on the Tuesday and continued to have neck pains right through till Friday. As the high school secretary said, "No pain, no gain!"

The beginning of a new school year has prompted a certain amount of self examination and reflection. Did I manage to do all that I set out to do this summer? Well, yes, for the most part! I read a lot, I reorganzied the house, I gardened, I went to London on several occasions, and I swam almost everyday. However, I didn't write much at all, nor did I learn how to make a sour dough starter. I had hoped to do the Thames river trip from here to Hampton Court. I did go to the Hampton Court flower show but by rail, not boat. I had also wanted to paint the living room and my bedroom. Perhaps, I set myself too great a target.

Now that summer is almost over, what do I want to accomplish this fall and what do I want to avoid doing! Now that will be an interesting voyage of discovery.

A week later

So here I am again a week later. I have had a hard week since it was the first full week of pre-planning before school starts on Tuesday. I didn't get as much done as I should have for any number of reasons: lots of meeting, all day first aid training on Tuesday, a hospital appointment on Wednesday and two coffee mornings for staff in the library. I crawled home on Friday and went to bed at 8! Yesterday I should have gone into work but I just can't bring myself to do it until I have too. Instead I went to lunch with Emma at a lovely little Japanese restaurant in Staines and then went to see A-Team, a good time waster and just what I needed.

Today, I have a cake to make for Emma's last cricket game of the season. Chocolate Zucchini, I think. I made it for my coffee mornings and it was a huge success. At 1 Cliff and I are going out for lunch to celebrate his birthday, which was last Tuesday. At the moment, it is overcast and drizzling. Let's hope it passes!

I suppose there is a lot I could say about work, which is not all that positive. However, I will try to linger only on the good things. My goal for the year is not to end up on stress leave, so I must stay positive and not get too demoralized by what I can't do.

We have a new head of English who seems as determined as I am to get students reading more. I have spent a good portion of my budget on buying books for a Teen Book Week in October. All of the grade 9 and 10s will come in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the coming week to choose one of 26 titles to read. I bought 3 to 5 copies of each title but will get more if a student can't get the one he or she wants.

Tomorrow, I am taking part in a 'fair' in one of our gyms. Parents come to talk to various groups about the activities their children can participate in over the coming year. I have arranged for a librarian from the Surrey library system to be there with me and to hand out pre-ordered library cards and go give out information to anyone who might be interested. I will also have information from my library for parents. Something else to be excited about.

More another day!