Easier Said Than Done

Treat people the way you want to be treated.  ~The Golden Rule

Easier Said Than Done

Learn to treat

yourself with kindness, because other people

might not. Believe the

truth contained in your heart. Get out of your own way

and become the person you

were meant to be. If you want

to, you can fix what’s broken. You can be the one to

make sure every injury will be

treated.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Persona

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.  ~Einstein

Persona 

I’m interested in everything.

The world is full of ideas and wonders that

blow my mind. I can

make amazing connections, be

the one who sees what others cannot, be counted

on to be the one who does

not take a statement for granted – the one who is not

afraid to question (but also who does not necessarily

think before I put my opinion out there). However, you can count

on me to understand that everything

I do or say matters, and that

admitting my mistake counts.

I have a keen sense of humor, and although I cannot

necessarily

time my jokes accurately, I keep trying. My best might be

the Poetry Friday ant rap. That definitely counted.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Advice to Writers

Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins. ~Sharon Creech (Walk Two Moons)

Advice to Writers

Writing well is more than just words on a page. Don’t

be satisfied with your first draft. Be the one to judge

your own writing with a

critical eye. Man

up (or woman up) -- work on revising and editing until

you’ve

walked

through your piece at least two

times. If you’re writing about stars and moons,

get your facts straight. Don’t write “in

his

shoes” if what you really mean is moccasins.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Reciprocal

When you live happy, you are happy.  ~Layann

Reciprocal

The Sparkly Unicorn Award is given when

you notice someone being amazing. You

get as much joy giving it as receiving it. The sculpture will live

on the recipient’s desk for the rest of the day, making them happy

every time they look at it. You made their day, so you

are

also happy.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Late last fall, we spent a morning messing around with plaster of paris. We made discs and ornaments and pendants and other assorted creations, which we decorated with glitter, ribbon, sequins, shells, etc. One of the creations was given to me -- a disc with edges dripping glitter and a Unicorn Horn Shell jutting up out of its center. Weeks later, on a day when someone did something totally awesome that needed a spotlight, I dubbed the disc+shell The Sparkly Unicorn Award, and I bestowed the award upon the awesome child. I allowed them to keep the award on their desk for the rest of the day (getting glitter all over someone else's work for once). Since then, students have begun bestowing the award upon each other, and one girl especially (the one who dances and draws through "Luminosity") has become our Lead Noticer of Other People's Awesomeness. She has given the award more times in the last few weeks than I have since last fall. It's one thing to BE awesome, but it's another kind of awesome to shine a light on others.

This class. I think I'm already starting to miss them.

Tabatha has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, The Opposite of Indifference, which is what I would say my poem and post is all about this week!

Positivity

At least I tried.  ~Hugh MacLeod

Positivity

A smile is at

the heart of all that is good, and it is the least

I can do. Every single day I am a success because I can say, “I

came, I smiled, I tried.”

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Persevere

This is your life. Do what you love and do it often.  ~The Holstee Manifesto

Persevere

Hard work. This

is

how you make your

dreams come true. Your life

is yours to mold like clay. Do

not wait for someone else to decide what

you

will be. Find what you love

most in life and

make it happen. Do

not be afraid to follow your dream as far as it

takes you. Just don’t forget to return home often.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Keen Observer

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keen Observer

Unless

you

bother to watch for hawks, unless you try

to

find a preying mantis hiding in the garden, you do

not know that there is something

beyond

what

is obvious and easy. You

have

to stop assuming that you have already

seen it all, mastered

it all. You

must become a keen observer or you will

never

grow.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Cookies

We measure minds by their stature. It would be better to estimate them by their beauty.  ~Joseph Joubert 

Cookies

Remember the time we

decorated cookies? There was no unit of measure

for our joy that day. Who minds

learning by

mixing icing and food coloring to make their

cookie’s stature

more massive (and of course, more beautiful)? It

was about way more than just the cookies, though. Who would

believe that such a diverse group could be

unified at Christmas? No better

way than to

share a 34-year cookie decorating tradition. Don’t under-estimate

the power of cookies to overcome differences. Let them

heal the world by

their sweetness and by their

beauty.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Growth Mindset

Super heroes are made, but heroes are born.  ~Antonio (in 365 Days of Wonder)

Growth Mindset

Think of seeds: what will someday be super

starts small. Those who will someday become heroes

often have no inkling that their tiny lives are

about to be made

into something not just big, but

mighty enough for them to become heroes.

You cannot know the good you will do. It is enough that you are

born.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018

Endeavor

Do or do not. There is no try.  ~Yoda (Star Wars)

Endeavor

Whatever I do

with my life or

my life’s work, I will do

it not

because I want praise, but because there

is

a problem that needs to be solved. There is no

way of knowing if I’ll completely fix it, but I’ll roll up my sleeves and try.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018