9 glorious days
yes, it's spring break. jesse commented earlier this break that i seem to be enjoying each break more and more this year, and i think it's kind of true.
yesterday morning i woke up at about 4 am (i'm guessing) to hear rain coming down on our tent. we were at pan toll campground at mt. tamalpais. the day before we had hiked from the mountain to stinson beach and back. it was great! once it got light yesterday morning we packed up in the rain and got our butts home. luckily, it is less than an hour back home with no traffic. by 10:30 am we were eating french toast and watching season 4 of "the sopranos" in our living room. we are still cleaning up and putting away but we stayed fairly dry in general. it was a great camping trip although i wish it hadn't been cut short.
even though i still have tons of work to do including stuff for my credential class, TFA, etc, something has truly shifted and i am not getting stressed out the way i used to be. it feels like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. i'm not exactly sure what changed other than i finally feel like i can plan more easily an dget more finished in a shorter amount of time. grading student work is still difficult for me, but beyond that i am getting it together. it feels very exciting. of course, it doesn't hurt anything that there are two more months of school left.
i did make a difficult decision this week, though. i think it is a final one. i decided to quit capoeira. i know that this might be shocking to some people but the reason is based on time and manageability. i love capoeira and the community is amazing. i loved the movement, music, history and people. capoeira was huge for me right after i graduated from college--i worked 40 hours a week, rarely any more than that, and i trained, made friends, rode my bicycle all around berkeley. things have changed very drastically from that fun and carefree time. i actually look forward to work and i feel challenged there; i am in a very nurturing and positive relationship; i have a house that i love being in, keeping clean, calling my home; and it's true, i do work a lot. each time recently that i've gone to capoeira it has been very fun but i am definitely not in great shape for martial arts so it's painful. it typically sucks about 3 hours of time between getting there, training, and going home. then i am exhausted and can't do anything else for the rest of the evening. so, it's been very hard to make myself go.
although teaching is calming down significantly, i know that it will always be a very busy activity. i know that wedding and family commitments will also arise in the next few years and it seems like it will only get more difficult to train, not any easier. i am sad to be making this decision but truly, i haven't been training consistently since june 2005 when i left my legal services job. i feel more like this is an acceptance of the inevitable rather than a huge dramatic decision. i've decided to commit to masters swimming and actually i will investigate a team in the area that is supposed to have more rigorous workouts at all levels.
in short--i used to get certain things from capoeira because i was not getting them elsewhere in my life. now instead of having a few truly challenging and rewarding hours each day, i have a whole challenging and rewarding work day every day. yes, it means that i have less time for other things--but i get to go do something that i love, that is creative, that is always changing, each day. i used to spend a lot of time with capoeira friends and acquaintances, as well as other friends. my truly nurturing relationships were limited. now, i am engaged and i have other close friendships. it's not like life was bad then and is good now--things have changed with the flow of my life and i know this is always how it will be. i am looking forward to getting back into swimming and i hope to do some open water swims this summer.
one era ends, another one begins. overall i feel positive about the decisions, although i also feel sad to be leaving such a rich culture. like i said, though, i feel in many ways like i left it a long time ago.
i am off to plan for a test prep unit which you will surely read more about here.
yesterday morning i woke up at about 4 am (i'm guessing) to hear rain coming down on our tent. we were at pan toll campground at mt. tamalpais. the day before we had hiked from the mountain to stinson beach and back. it was great! once it got light yesterday morning we packed up in the rain and got our butts home. luckily, it is less than an hour back home with no traffic. by 10:30 am we were eating french toast and watching season 4 of "the sopranos" in our living room. we are still cleaning up and putting away but we stayed fairly dry in general. it was a great camping trip although i wish it hadn't been cut short.
even though i still have tons of work to do including stuff for my credential class, TFA, etc, something has truly shifted and i am not getting stressed out the way i used to be. it feels like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. i'm not exactly sure what changed other than i finally feel like i can plan more easily an dget more finished in a shorter amount of time. grading student work is still difficult for me, but beyond that i am getting it together. it feels very exciting. of course, it doesn't hurt anything that there are two more months of school left.
i did make a difficult decision this week, though. i think it is a final one. i decided to quit capoeira. i know that this might be shocking to some people but the reason is based on time and manageability. i love capoeira and the community is amazing. i loved the movement, music, history and people. capoeira was huge for me right after i graduated from college--i worked 40 hours a week, rarely any more than that, and i trained, made friends, rode my bicycle all around berkeley. things have changed very drastically from that fun and carefree time. i actually look forward to work and i feel challenged there; i am in a very nurturing and positive relationship; i have a house that i love being in, keeping clean, calling my home; and it's true, i do work a lot. each time recently that i've gone to capoeira it has been very fun but i am definitely not in great shape for martial arts so it's painful. it typically sucks about 3 hours of time between getting there, training, and going home. then i am exhausted and can't do anything else for the rest of the evening. so, it's been very hard to make myself go.
although teaching is calming down significantly, i know that it will always be a very busy activity. i know that wedding and family commitments will also arise in the next few years and it seems like it will only get more difficult to train, not any easier. i am sad to be making this decision but truly, i haven't been training consistently since june 2005 when i left my legal services job. i feel more like this is an acceptance of the inevitable rather than a huge dramatic decision. i've decided to commit to masters swimming and actually i will investigate a team in the area that is supposed to have more rigorous workouts at all levels.
in short--i used to get certain things from capoeira because i was not getting them elsewhere in my life. now instead of having a few truly challenging and rewarding hours each day, i have a whole challenging and rewarding work day every day. yes, it means that i have less time for other things--but i get to go do something that i love, that is creative, that is always changing, each day. i used to spend a lot of time with capoeira friends and acquaintances, as well as other friends. my truly nurturing relationships were limited. now, i am engaged and i have other close friendships. it's not like life was bad then and is good now--things have changed with the flow of my life and i know this is always how it will be. i am looking forward to getting back into swimming and i hope to do some open water swims this summer.
one era ends, another one begins. overall i feel positive about the decisions, although i also feel sad to be leaving such a rich culture. like i said, though, i feel in many ways like i left it a long time ago.
i am off to plan for a test prep unit which you will surely read more about here.
posted by Allyson B. at
11:39 AM
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