Forsake not your passion-

 “For there is always a sanctuary more, a door that can never be forced, a last inviolable stronghold that can never be taken, whatever the attack; your vote can be taken, you name, you innards, or even your life, but that last stonghold can only be surrendered. And to surrender it for any reason other than love is to surrender love.”

                                        Ken Kesey, Sometimes a Great Notion

How do you stronghold? 

The idea of strong-holding has become of great importance to me as an educator in an ever changing, fast paced landscape where reform and progress often happen without my consent and or comfort. In my uneasiness I keep "moving forward". I change. Again and again I change. I collect data and I change. (and I'm not sure that change is right or wrong; just sure that it regularly feels fast and continuous)

For me and for multitudes of colleagues I am privileged to work with change is sometimes necessary, but often times hard. Making shifts and holding fast to the gladness in my vocation is even more difficult. To succeed at maintaining my spirit and making needed shifts requires real work. I have learned through the years that to stay anchored to my true values and strong sense of what I believe research says is best for students is also challenging work. To accept the pace of that change is even more challenging for me. So I make time for other necessary work. I make time for reading and writing from texts and encounters that inspire affirm what I hold deep inside. This is my strong-holding.  Time invested in searching for words and works that sustain my teacher heart has become an important part of my journey; my stronghold.

The few minutes I more or less daily spend reading and writing holds me true to myself and my vocation. In creating this blog, I hope to share some of what keeps me strong that in turn we may begin a dialogue that keeps our dwindling community of educators refreshed, dedicated, and filled with passion for the life we breathe to the children and communities we serve.

You'll find I love poetry and quotes. I enjoy drawing and metaphor. All of those things will find their way into this blog. Perhaps you'll share some of what daily keeps you inspired as well. Consider this a public place working people to find some quiet minutes in "splendid isolation"- sharing strength, gathering strength. Let's stronghold together. Yes? Join me then. 

Welcome to our stronghold- a place where we need not surrender what we love, our vocation, our passion, to the pace at which the world often requires us to think and work. Here we can build that which is life- giving and powerful enough to withstand all the uneasiness that comes with required and necessary change.