Shana Tova Umetuka

Tis' the season. The season of new. New beginnings, a new year, and new chances. Every year I sit here before Rosh Hashanah and think. Think about the past year and think about the coming year. I think about what I want to carry with me into the coming year and I think about what I want to leave behind.

This year I have the chance to leave some "stuff" behind in the past year. It's a chance to begin the year anew and fresh. It won't be easy, but I know that entering the new year with this attitude will be good for my soul, good for my psyche. I cannot let this "stuff" get in the way of my finding the sweetness around me.

And at the same time, I have so much sweetness in my life right now that I get to carry into the new year. A wonderful placement, wonderful friends, and sweet supportive family members there for me when I need them most. It may be hard to find the sweetness in life, but I'm taking it upon myself to look for the sweet lining whenever I can this year.

And as this Rosh Hashanah approaches, it marks 3 years since I saw my Bubbe. The sadness I feel surrounding her yarzheit does take away, slightly, from the sweetness of this holiday, but I try to hold onto the sweet memories I have with her. And this year I am using that to help me with my new attitude for the year.

Let go of the negative, embrace the memories, and move into the new year with an open mind and heart.

21 years in the making

When I was a toddler my mom wrote a story about Rosh Hashanah. She wrote it to help little children understand what this hooplah over a "New Year" was all about. It compared old things and new things to gently and appropriately explain to young minds what and why we celebrating. 

That began a new endeavor for my mom of writing her own "big books" for use in her nursery school . She wrote one for pretty much every Jewish holiday, they were illustrated by my sister or from graphics in magazines or coloring pages. 

It was always her dream to get them published, which would require redoing the art due to copyright laws. She was never able to nail down an illustrator and her dream stayed a dream. 

Quite a few years ago she began writing for Torah Aura Publishers, working with a friend to write weekly reader type materials about the Jewish holidays and values for nursery schools. 

Suddenly, my mom's amazing dream for her books was back on the table. She brought them her big books and they agreed to publish the first book, the Rosh Hashanah book.  So without further ado I give you an amazing project 21 years in the making. My mom's first book, published, available for purchase and now being used in nursery classrooms as the holiday draws near! 

My mom's name on a book! She's published articles and other materials before, but a book! A book she dreamed up and wrote 2 decades ago, one that she never gave up on. I couldn't be more elated for her. This was her dream and she made it a reality. Hopefully her other books will see the same reality and be published soon! 

To big books and a sweet new year!! I am so proud of you Ima!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Low Key:

Piano anyone? I'm pretty sure those are the low keys, on a toy piano at the local toy shop. Either way, it's keys!

Color Wheel:

These awesome heirloom tomatoes were too good to pass up, eating and photographing!

Circle:

Totally not what I thought I'd do, but love this one! This is an old closed down movie theater that I pass on my walk to my school every morning. Someone apparently bought it and it's going to be developed soon, but my mom remembers this theater from the time she spent living in Boston!

Scarf:

Blog, meet Humphry. Avi made him this scarf with the yarn she had leftover after making me a scarf a few years back. It suits him very well.

Phone:

I used to play with this phone as a little kid and love that they are still making it, kuddos to Fischer Price for making sure kids know what a rotary phone is! So vintage editing for a now vintage phone!

A plus...

...to being a teacher is getting paid (okay, not this year, but hopefully beginning next year) to spend my days with kids and getting to cut, glue, and create!

The kids have been making construction paper self-portraits all week and I joined in the fun on Tuesday. It felt so therapeutic to be creating and being able to just chat with my students as they created their portraits as well!

Street Art

Last weekend, as I was heading back towards the T after my afternoon at the Ahts Festival I came across a group of street performers. Down at Quincy Market there are tons of performers; from dancers to dare devils, and musicians.

This group was amazing, it was a group of five men and they mixed humor with insane dance moves, they were just amazing!

They really had the crowd going. They kept making jokes at themselves and the crowd. They wouldn't begin performing until they had everyone gathered around their "stage"- they were shouting, "there is nothing to worry about, we're just Black guys dancing!" And dance they did!

Dance, flip, spin, pop, lock, the whole nine yards.

They were just amazing, the crowd grew and grew as they performed. I find these type of dance skills amazing. Plenty of gymnasts can perform like this on mats, but on a sidewalk, kuddos!

Towards the end, they called up some innocent audience members. They had them line up, bend over, and a guy went and flipped over them! Insane! I would have freaked out, but this guy just went flying over them!

It was a great way to end a nice Sunday afternoon out and about in Boston. One of the reasons I love this city, you never know what you'll find!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Ahts Edition

Street Photography:

One thing I love about Boston is the old cobble stone streets that are all around the city! This is at Quincy Market, so it's a promenade not a real street, but plenty of actual streets are like this too!

From a Distance:

This was a public art project at the Ahts Festival. Anyone could paint and it will be hung up somewhere in the city. I just loved looking at the mural from this view - and seeing the kids painting from a distance.

Sunday:

Keeping it real. Today, this is the mountain of readings and work I have to tackle. Now that school and classes are in full swing, this is what most Sundays will look like, with the occasional break for football...

Liquid:

When I saw this prompt I instantly thought about blowing glass and the demo at the festival. When glass is being made it's partially a liquid - and glass is often considered a supercooled liquid, rather then a solid. All glass starts in a molten liquid form!

Behind:

I just meant to walk around the mural being painted at the festival, and much to my surprise, people had painted from behind too!

Colors

True right? I heard one of the little girls in the class describe a marker as strawberry colored and the boy (not being sexist, but what I've noticed working with children) across from her said, "what you mean this plain old red one?"

Just another way we all see the world differently!

Glitter!

I aspire to be this enthusiastic. And seriously, tape that sticks parents! Tape that sticks! 

And best hamster names EVER!

Ahts Festival

Last year, right after I moved to Boston I heard about the Boston Ahts Festival. There are tons of artists who showcase their wares and there are demos and interactive art projects. I had a great time last year so I was super excited to go again this year! 

The weather was perfect, a slight breeze, seasonally cool temps. Just the type of weather that makes you want to wander from booth to booth and look at gorgeous artwork. There were paintings and ceramics. 

 Lots and lots or jewelry, modern, abstract, and traditional. Colorful and muted.

 Different types of photography and combinations of photography and paintings.

 Lots of art featuring Boston pride.

 I love the whimsical art the best, I think. It just makes you smile!

 Again this year, there were huge sheetrock panels set up for anyone to paint on. They'll become a mural somewhere in the city eventually. Kids and grown-ups were having a blast leaving their mark on the city.

 I also have a huge soft spot for blown glass. This studio was here last year, and I loved watching the glass making demo. They were making a vase and talking to the crowd. They are just so amazingly talented.

I think this is going to be a new tradition. It was great weather and a great way to spend a gorgeous late summer/early fall afternoon!

Where was I?

It was any ordinary September Tuesday. That morning, early, I said good-bye to my sister as she departed for the airport to head back to college. I got up, went to school, went to my math class (upstairs in the high school area) while everyone else went to davening. As Nicole, Yael, and I walked out of the high school we saw a group of teachers gathered around a TV, looking scared. We got downstairs and Rabbi Ari quickly ushered us into the shul, as usual, for Rabbi's morning announcements. However, these were no ordinary announcements.  

He revealed to us what had unfolded minutes before. There was a palpable silence in the room. We, a bunch of fifth through twelfth graders had just been told the country as we knew it had changed. Suddenly, a chill flew down my spine. My sister. My sister was on an airplane. We had no idea what flights were involved, but I suddenly was in panic mode. 

We were dismissed to our next classes, but very soon we were back in the shul watching the unfolding events on the TV.  Within seconds of turning on NBC we saw it happen. We saw the first tower come down. Silence again. We heard the roar of jets from the local FAA Tech center. They were scrambling into the air to protect our nearby coastline. 

As a Jewish school, the town police requested we close for the day. They wanted to provide us with protection, but had no protection to spare. So we were sent home to our families to absorb the shock of the events unfolding. After what felt like hours we heard from Avi, she was safe, shaken, but safe at college. Suddenly, Chicago felt very far away. 

As my dad drove me home, he told me about when President Kennedy was assasinated everyone was told, "you'll never forget where you where when you found out." He said that the unthinkable tragedy we were watching unfold was my generations, "where were you." Still to this day I get a chill down my spine when I visualize walking by the teachers huddled around the tv or when I hear, in my mind, Rabbi Weiss tell us a plane hit a building in the city. 

America changed that day. My life changed that day. Everyone's lives changed that day. But the important point is that life went on. We were hurt, but we went on. I finished eighth grade, I went to high school, I went to college, I've come to graduate school.

I have by no means forgotten. But, that was where I was and now I've continued on.  Today, I went out and about in Boston, there was life everywhere. Tourists, street performers, locals. We were doing what the terrorists didn't want us to do. We were living and continuing on.  

"Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out clearer." -- Lord of the Rings

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Bokeh:

I was nervous about capturing a good bokeh. I know how to, but usually it's because of what I am focusing on. But I was so excited to capture this! The yellow bokeh is so great behind the yellow flower.

Process of elimination:

So, I was super excited to work with this one. I pushed myself to really eliminate excess from my focus.  I was at my neighborhood book shop and found these colorful Moleskins and it screamed picture! Below is what I started with and above is how I eliminated the excess! 

Remember:

I printed up all my summer pictures and was putting them into the albums this morning and had such a nice time remembering all the fun I had this summer!

Statues:

All the fun statues are downtown, and this being the first week of teaching I couldn't go track down Paul Revere. And then I thought of the awesome dance sculptures I have from IKEA! Add a little IKEA lighting, and voila!

Flying High:

I immediately thought of swinging! This little girl was loving the swings on a (finally) sunny afternoon at the playground!

Fly Eagles Fly

Look out! The Eagles are flying towards victory! 

I am.

Over the past few months I've dealt with some heavy personal "stuff," for lack of a more colloquial term. Some of this "stuff" really hit me hard; emotionally, physically, mentally, etc. It was quite hard to deal with my emotions and rise above the blows that I felt I was dealt. But, I feel like I've begun to do so. 

 It took quite a long while to realize that what I was going through wasn't my fault.  It didn't mean I was any less of a wonderful person. It didn't mean I was a bad person in any way shape or form.

 Regardless, it took time to not be mad at myself.  I was sad, hurt, broken down.  But then I look at all the amazing people I do have around me.  Those amazing people, that support me, love me, and encourage me.  And I began to accept that this "stuff" wasn't my fault, or about me, and that by being down on myself I was letting myself down.

I am in no means over the "stuff" that has been going on, in all honesty it's still going on. I've just begun to realize that by dwelling and being in the pity pot, I was letting this "stuff" win, essentially. I have too much going for me to dwell on all of this.

 I happened to just finish reading The Help and the line, "You is kind, you is smart, you is important" continues to stick out to me. It's becoming a mantra of sorts.  I am kind, I am smart, and I am important. If this "stuff" prevents some others from realizing this than too bad. Because I cannot live life waiting for this "stuff" to be resolved or disappear, because I am too smart, kind, and important to stop living.

So good riddance to you "stuff" I am not defined by you and I will live my life, because I am me!