The student becomes the teacher

Today I had the pleasure of observing high school students teaching younger kids about healthy eating through our summer program. They put on an amazing show, driving home the points of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, and drinking plenty of water. The kids were mesmerized.

One of these high school "teachers" turned out to be my former student! I taught her in 8th grade two years ago. She was so excited to see me, and I loved watching her in action. It was an amazing moment. Even two years ago, I knew she was so talented at working with younger kids. At one point, one very excited kid called out, and she gently told him to wait. Then she winked at me, as if to say, "You know what kids are like." I loved it. 

Why I will never leave the house without floss again

Yesterday I had a particularly embarrassing, and well, distasteful moment that I just had to share with you. That's the beauty of a blog, you see. You have a built-in, somewhat captive audience to share all of your amazing and not so amazing moments. This is a not so amazing moment. Brace yourselves.

I had just finished scarfing down my salad, and was about to run out the door to meet a group. My co-workers were waiting in the hallway, and I ran to the restroom first. Upon gazing into the mirror, I realized that a rather large piece of kale was firmly wedged between my front two teeth.

I tried to get it out with my fingernail, and then, in desperation, pulled out a piece of my hair to use as a makeshift piece of floss. My friend, in high school, always told us this story that right before she had to go onstage during a musical performance, she discovered something was in her teeth and she used her hair as floss. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I decided to follow the same path.

So, I succeeded in getting the kale out...but the piece of hair broke, and I was left with a piece of hair sticking out of my front tooth. Yikes. What was I supposed to do? The hair looked WAY worse than the piece of kale...

I couldn't google image that one, but you get the picture.

Finally, I took out my earring, and somehow managed to extract the hair from my teeth. I am never leaving the house without floss again!

A true artist

Tonight, walking with two friends, we stopped in our tracks when we saw this artist, painting Parc, a French cafe by Rittenhouse Square.

His name is Stuart Yankell, and it was amazing to see him in action. What amazes me about impressionist painting is that ever so confidently he kept going up to the canvass, putting what was seemingly a blob down, and then, when stepping back, it turned into a picture. He said it wasn't the first time he had painted this cafe, because each time he gets a different feeling and it turns out to be a completely different picture.

Even with this mob around him, Stuart was patient as we all snapped photos and gawked over his art. It was one of those truly unique moments you can only have in a walkable city. 

Creating calm

Lately, life has been moving at light speed. I got my dream job, but now I have to figure out how I'm going to do the best job I possibly can in a very short amount of time. I taught all year, and I don't have a summer to recuperate. My schedule seems packed from morning until night, but I can't seem to get anything done. I feel pulled in a million different directions. I think the reason I felt the need to sleep for so long this weekend stems from the fact that my body was literally shutting down.

At my Sati class this morning, my instructor was talking about what we don't say for fear of judgement. I find that I tend to hold a lot back. On this blog, to my friends, to my co-workers, etc.

What am I not saying? If I'm really being honest, I'm not saying that I feel completely out of my league in my new job. I have so much to learn, and so much to prove. Several times in the past week I have felt unqualified or undeserving.

As always, my mentor's blog came at the perfect time. She wrote about how to cope when feeling overwhelmed. One of her suggestions when feeling overwhelmed is to create a place of calm in the moment, taking 5 deep breaths and thinking of 5 good things in the moment.

In the moment...

1) I helped my friend move today and got to be a small part of a big step in her life.
2) Even though I felt lousy this morning, I still got up and started moving.
3) I had an honest conversation with someone I truly care about today about my fears and worries - and ended up feeling a bit better.
4) I got caught in two monsoon-like rains today and still came out smiling.
5) I have friends and families who are constantly checking in on me to make sure I'm okay, and who are rallying around me to make sure I succeed.

A breath of fresh air

I know this good weather will only last for but a moment, but it's so amazing to be in Philly during the summer and to not be sweating the moment you walk out the door. It's glorious to be able to sit outside comfortably. Fantastic to be able to sleep comfortably at night. Ah, yes. Philly summers aren't looking too bad right now.

Sleep

The main reason I didn't post yesterday had to do with the fact that I was passed out before 8 pm. Yes, in my old age, I may be getting to be that girl. I slept for over 13 hours, and I'm still pretty worn out. Nothing particularly noteworthy about that, except for the fact that I'm glad I gave myself that time to just, well, sleep.

A front row seat

This evening, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend my third Philly's Shakespeare in the park; this year, The Tempest. One of my friends performs every year, and he always steals the show. It's so cool to see live theater, and especially, to see live theater outside.

At one point everyone who had a flashlight in the audience (apparently we were supposed to bring one?) was instructed to turn them on at the same time - so cool!

The most striking moment to me happened completely by accident. This theater group was performing in the middle of a park where children naturally play. While it was still light out, a group of actors ran down a hill. Half a second later, two kids rolled down the hill just behind them. They were already stealing the show, but then the little girl just planted herself almost in the middle of the stage, transfixed by the actors. The actors, in keeping with "the show must go on", just kept right on going. What an amazing way to be exposed to the theater.