Amy M. Schaefer
  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery

From the Front Porch

I am an "accidental blogger". When I launched my writing career in March of 2014, one of the things that I decided to include was my journaling, which I have always found to be a comforting and therapeutic endeavor.  It was a big risk to open myself up in such a public forum, but it has taught me that, for the most part, we share far more experiences than we think. It's comforting to know I'm not alone!  (*the "Button Text" is the link to my first novel)
Button Text

Curb Your Enthusiasm

2/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Image @ smcdsb.on.ca
"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." ~Aristotle

At what age do we begin to lose our enthusiasm for simple things? Perhaps you're one of the fortunate souls who maintains that innocent joy for a lifetime, but for me (and many others I know) the light found in such small pleasures as hugging a teacher or telling a dumb joke gets muddied, lost in this whole "adulting" thing. Disappointments, paying bills, experiencing heartbreak pile up like grown-up garbage leaving a taint on us that's difficult to shower off. It is a tragedy that makes me absolutely indignant to the injustice of the loss! I want it back, dagnabbit and I'm working very hard to make that happen! Fortunately, there is a group of tiny humans that are helping me.

This morning I sat doing fluency drills with my second graders, and I kid you not when I say they are so happy to attain even the smallest of milestones. Their excitement at getting through a hundred words in under five minutes was infectious. The students who read the hundred words in over five minutes still took delight from every word, every sound they knew on their own. One young lady said with utmost seriousness when she got stuck, "Now don't help me," and hid the card so I couldn't see the word! She concentrated on each part, her little eyebrows drawn together in intense focus until she said the word aloud and I confirmed she was correct. Then, her entire face bloomed with an "I did it" smile that warmed me to my bones. Another child, who's having a really rough time in his everyday life told me at the start, "Mrs. Schaefer, I can't do this." "You can," I assured him. "And I should know. It's my job to know!" I puffed myself up importantly to make him laugh. "Show me whatcha got, pal?" I challenged. He started off slow, unconvinced, his little sighs of frustration telling me he wanted to give up, so I ratcheted up the praise and it worked. He picked up steam, his fluency improving with each new card. By the end, he was smiling and I wanted to hug him tight. I wanted to tell him that in his whole life, if he just did what he did with me in regards to reading those words he'd be completely unstoppable (but that was way over his seven-year-old head). As I watched him return to class, I offered up a prayer that he would have more people along his path to offer him words of encouragement.

I want to tell these tiny humans I see every day, "Don't let grown-up life steal your enthusiasm", but I know even if I did, it wouldn't make sense to them until many years down the road where the possibility that it's too late is almost a guarantee. And while I thoroughly believe living a life of joy is 90% attitude & 10% circumstance, life will eventually kick you in the teeth. It's tough to forget when that happens, to set it aside and keep moving forward. It is harder still when those heartbreaks are a seemingly endless loop.

I may be teaching tiny humans how to deal with r-controlled vowels and other meticulously chosen reading strategies, but they are giving me lessons on how to not let life curb my enthusiasm. I'm also helping them discover a love of reading in as many ways as my time with them will allow, which to my mind is an amazing gift (I couldn't face this world without cookies and a good book), the lessons they're reminding me of leads me to conclude I'm the one getting the better end of this deal!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About The Author

    I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter.

    Since then, I have learned to reach well beyond what I ever dared to think was possible. I've learned not to allow fear to stop me from whatever future I want to create!

    What keeps me grounded? My Tribe! What provides the wind beneath my wings? A well of reserves filled with unstoppable passion!

    Archives

    August 2021
    March 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories
    A View From the Hill: Short Stories by Mattie Hill Shields

    All

    Button Text

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery