Here's Andrew telling you how to live again

Before I start, (...wait. That doesn't make sense. By saying that, I've already started!)
Before I get to the heart of the matter, I'd like to say that nobody likes to be told their doing something wrong, especially in regards to how they're living, and nobody particularly enjoys that church sermon that comes once each year about giving more money. This is not that, but it is that. This is just what I'm learning and hope to share with you, but I also hope it makes you just uncomfortable enough to really consider its broader implications.

Although I don't know much of anything about Pope Francis, I do know that he has made it a point to be a "voice for the poor."

“Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor.” (Pope Francis, Address to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 6/14/13)

“The times talk to us of so much poverty in the world and this is a scandal. Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons. Poverty today is a cry.” (Pope Francis, Meeting with Students of Jesuit Schools—Q&A, 6/7/13)

I took a class in college called Contemporary Christian Thought in which we discussed various Christian theologies. We were tasked with choosing one theology, reading a book written by the theology's main proponents, and writing a report about the author's efficacy in getting his/her ideas across. I chose Latin American liberation theology and the book Where is God?: Earthquake, Terrorism, Barbarity, and Hope by Jon Sobrino. Reading this book and learning about liberation theology was the first time that I had ever felt punched in the gut when thinking about the poor. I did not fully agree with many things Sobrino wrote in his book, but I did take this away:

The path to salvation, according to Sobrino, is to become like the poor who, in turn, are like Christ, and the way to achieve this is through solidarity. Without offering a formal definition, he expresses that solidarity creates justice by rebuilding people and later rebuilding through acts of charity. Sobrino’s vision of solidarity is more than an ethical obligation but rather comes from knowing that we are doing the most fundamental human act, growing in an intimate relationship with other people. This definition of solidarity accurately shows that being honest with reality, allowing the world to affect us, is necessary and appropriate to produce humanizing behaviors. Through communion, love, and a close relationship with others who are suffering, we can see how the world treats them and what must be done to end this suffering.

All of this is to say that in my time here, I am learning to give generously and receive humbly. Giving can be difficult. I should know. I can be a cheapskate. Somewhere in my life, I learned to save as much as possible. I don't make many impulsive buys, and I take advantage of freebies whenever I can. I'm the guy who picks up pennies on the ground (which, by the way, is ridiculous. Take that spare change with you, toss it in a jar, and watch it add up.) So many people have less than me. That's almost not worth it to even mention because no duh! It's easy to put the less fortunate out of our minds because then we won't feel the pressure to help out when all we really want to do is bustle along with our iPads, Snuggies, and comfortable lives. "I worked for this! I earned it! I deserve this!" The reality is that we don't deserve any of this. Every bit of this life you and I are living is a gift that God granted us. God gave us more than we need and a million ways to share it. Yes, I find giving (esp. financial giving) tough. However, I do have plenty of free time to give, and I can *ahem* go volunteer somewhere.

In regards to receiving humbly, I have been on the receiving end of some exceptionally thoughtful giving, and I have felt how it is to receive. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's embarrassing. And sometimes it's just unnecessary. No matter the case, if someone has offered a gift or to give you a lift or to cover your shift (hehe! rhymes...), just humbly accept, say thank you, and, like the Kevin Spacey film says, Pay It Forward.

Happiness

In honor of the International Day of Happiness:

Matthew 5:3-10

³ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Instead of reading it as "blessed," we can read it as "happy" for our happiness, our joy, comes from the Lord. 

³ Happy are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Happy are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Happy are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Happy are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Happy are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Happy are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Happy are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Share the love today (and all days). Smile at someone you don't know (and someone you do know). Give your spouse, significant other, or best friend that one thing that makes them wiggle with pleasure (and then give them something else). Smile some more (just because you can). 

If you don't feel like smiling at the moment, if you're finding yourself in a rut today or this week, if you think it's just going to get worse, put that aside for a few minutes. Allow yourself to be happy even for just a few moments despite the current struggle. It may be difficult, but it may just be worth it.

Drawbacks

Living in Belfast (well, Norn Iron in general) comes with its drawbacks. 

Roads blocked because of protests/parades - There has been a Loyalist protest at Twaddell Avenue since last July because they are upset (as if I really know what they're really feeling) with a decision made by the Parades Commission. The road is blocked every night from 7:30-8:30. We use this road daily.

 

Being hyper-vigilant about what you say and to whom you are saying it.  A few weeks ago, the Lord Mayor of Belfast visited the Quaker Meeting I attend. After the meeting, he spoke with Steffi and I about Quaker Cottage for a bit. During the talk, he asked us which road we take to come down the mountain. There are two roads: the Ballygomartin which heads down into a Protestant area and the Whiterock which heads into a Catholic area. In a backdoor sort of way, he was asking which side we supported more. Although he seemed like a very nice man trying to right the wrongs of the past, this question seemed out of place and inappropriate. This is the way conversations can often go. People just have a way of knowing whether someone is Catholic or Protestant based solely on what you say. Don't you dare let on that you're from Ardoyne (Catholic neighborhood) if you're in the Shankhill (Protestant neighborhood). Should I say Derry, Londonderry, Derry~Londonderry? Gotta be careful which sports team you claim to support. Even the way you pronounce letters (H can be 'aitch' or 'haitch' depending on where you're from) can tip someone off.

Security alerts - We had a security alert today in the neighborhood of one of our afterschool children and nearby several others. This forced us to make phone calls to their mums, reroute our bus runs, and find ways to avoid the roads that were closed off or severely backed up. A security alert essentially means that there could be a bomb/pipebomb/suspicious bag in the area. This is not the first time that I've dealt with a security alert. Sometime before Christmas, Becky, Steffi, and I ventured down to the City Centre. On the walk there, we passed by a cathedral. An hour later, we walked back along the same route and found the area around the cathedral cordoned off by police officers. Once home, I found this article. Essentially, a bomb had exploded nearby where I had walked an hour earlier. 

And on that note, I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to seeing police officers walking around in full body armour and carrying assault rifles.

Roads closed because of closed gates - In certain areas of the city, there are peace lines in place. Basically, they're walls that cut off one neighborhood from another. There are some roads that cross these lines, so they have gates on them. Although I've only been blocked by a gate once so far, the potential annoyance is there. I understand the purpose they serve, but man it would be great if they weren't necessary.

I have been told that you can't truly understand the situation in Northern Ireland unless you live there, and after six months here, I have to say that I still question the extent of my understanding. In fact, I'm not even sure if anything I just wrote might be construed as inappropriate or choosing sides.

New Mums

I need to start this post off with a confession...  I wore my socks on the wrong feet last week. Some of my socks have the letters "L" and "R" on them, and for the first time since I bought them who knows how long ago, I did not abide by the letters on my feet. And you know what? It was totally freeing! As my co-workers will readily tell you, I maybe, kinda, sorta am a wee bit OCD about certain things. I just like things to be neat and ordered. Anyway, I wore my socks on the wrong feet and have do so twice more since then.

It's been awhile since my last update. The biggest change since then is that eight new families have started their year at the cottage. It's very exciting to meet the new families. Each family brings a new story and a fun new experience. They each bring with them the hardships that they have faced, but the hope is that with time and a bit of effort, they will learn something from Quaker Cottage or find something in themselves that will bring them back to stability. The previous group that started in October seemed particularly difficult. Some of the mums were (and still are) in a bad place, and they bring that mood with them when they come up the mountain. Despite it being difficult at times to deal with this, I am so glad that they have the opportunity to come to Quakers. Now, the reason I am mentioning the previous group is to illustrate the contrast between them and the new group. The new group is (so far) energetic, garrulous, and flirtatious . You may be asking how I know they're flirty. Ahem....Well, uh....Being that I am the only young male worker that they see at Quakers, it's easy for them to find a target.

Here's the story. It was their first day coming to Quaker Cottage, and I was lucky enough to be driving the bus while we went out to pick everyone up. My supervisor was in the back of the bus in order to chat with them. The first mum we picked up was the protagonist (or antagonist, whichever way you want to see it) of this story. She steps onto the bus, and my supervisor introduces me to her. She gives me a look and proceeds to compliment my smile and say how wonderful it is to meet me. I wasn't thinking too much of it at this point, but my supervisor was. She was the real instigator of it all. She continued to mention me in conversation throughout the rest of the bus ride and telling the mum that she should sit up front beside me. So as fate would have it, the mums did not all fit in the back of the bus (they had their babies with them too), so this mum, who happened to not have any babies with her, had to sit up front. At that point, the mum began the heavy flirting. Among other things, she said, "Well, I have a boyfriend, but I've only been seeing him for like two weeks, so it's not anything serious." Trying to be professional, I just talked to her like I would anyone else, but somehow my being nice came off as returning the flirts. Eventually, I was getting embarrassed because the other mums were a bit clued in on our conversation. It was at this point that I made a huge mistake. Because the back of the bus doesn't have vents, I had the heat blasting and that leaves the front extremely warm. Well, I was just too hot, so I turned to the back and said, "Is everyone warm back there? Because it's getting hot up here!" Instantly, I knew I had dug myself a hole. But it was too late...the words had already come out. My supervisor's response? "Oh, you're hot? Well, I think "Amber" is in heat!"

The next six months will certainly not be dull.

Speaking of six months, I am officially halfway done with my term of service here in NI. Not sure how I feel about that.

I suppose I should talk about the new children too. The babies are fun. Whenever we have a new group start, we have to be extra prepared to deal with crying babies. On that first day, one toddler had fallen asleep on the bus, so when he woke up in a new place surrounded by strangers, it must have been like the whole world had crashed down around him. I have never seen a child cry so violently. He was dry-heaving in between gasps for air and body-shaking sobs. This continued for what felt like an hour but was likely half that long. I was certain he was either going to be sick or pass out from exhaustion. And once one child start crying, the others followed shortly after. Thankfully, they were easier to calm down.

I still haven't met all of the new afterschoolers, but I have met the new preteen group. Here's a quick story from one of the new boys. We had just finished an egg challenge where we wrap up an egg with whatever you can find and then drop it from up high. After unwrapping it and discovering it was still intact, one boy grabbed the egg and, without a thought, smashed it on his head. The kids were all laughing, and the staff stood there in a semi-shocked speechlessness. Yes, what he did was funny, but we see this type of behavior from a different light. This boy is a glutton for attention. He instantly loved me because I am American, and he loves all things American. Does he really love everything about America, or is he trying to find a source of attention from me? He is unable to sit still when we're all having discussions and is continuously cutting into other people's conversations. Basically, his social skills are not where they should be. Through our interactions with him, we can see that something is likely missing from home or school, and just like we do for all of the children, we attempt to help them learn the skills they are missing or need work on while they're with us.


Outside of work, I went on an overnight trip/hike with the Ireland Young Friends group that I have connected with. Although the hike was somewhat disappointing, the time with this group is always good craic. It's like going back to camp.











I went to a park with Becky and Steffi last weekend and saved a bird caught in fishing line. It took ages, and the bird was not a happy chappy. I felt like I was in one of those commercials that shows workers cleaning oil off of coastal birds.

At the Waterworks, a park in Belfast

The sun is shining longer and longer each day finally. It was not so pleasant seeing the sun set around 4:00pm most of the winter. It's also raining less often (at least it seems like it) which means that the sun has a chance to peak out from behind the clouds now and then. 

And lastly, instead of celebrating Fat Tuesday here, they celebrate Pancake Tuesday. As a pancake lover, I can get behind this day of pancake gluttony.

His Brain Wanted to Have

Have you ever had one of those glitch in the matrix moments? You know, when something feels off. Well, I had one of those unsettling moments yesterday whilst watching the Olympics. (Haha...whilst...look how quaint I am!) Ahem...so anyway, I was sitting on the sofa watching ice dancing (which, by the way, is totally awesome), and the camera panned across the crowd. All of a sudden, a photographer came into view, and he was pointing his camera directly at me. For that split second, I was totally unnerved. At that exact moment, I felt myself flinch a bit, and I thought to myself, "Don't take a picture of me!" Once the moment passed, I laughed at myself for few seconds until the same thing happened a second time. It felt like I was looking through a window and that the cameraman was invading my privacy. I lost touch with reality twice in a matter of 30 seconds. OR! I saw the truth behind my perceived reality and I only needed to embrace that moment in order to remove the veil of my existence.....................nah...

On another note, I've been told by a number of people now that I am a very good writer. I don't feel that my writing is spectacular by any means. In fact, I would much rather read another person's writings than my own because I like to experience the deeper thinking and more elaborate descriptions that they put together. There is something so much more refined in the way other people can express themselves that I haven't been able to see in my own writing. My writing seems simple. After a discussion with my momma, I came to the conclusion that perhaps this is not as bad as it first appears. Sure, I don't have a philosopher's tongue. No, I can't always piece words together so eloquently that readers can watch them dance (that was a quick attempt though). Instead, my writing is simple and honest. I try to provide a laugh or two when I can manage to think of something funny, and I just write as if I were talking (except my words don't work so well when I'm talking, so telling stories is much easier this way). All this rambling was a lead in to tell you that my aunt even suggested that I write a book. WELL LET ME TELL YOU! As a matter of fact, I actually did start writing a book years ago, and until recently, I had totally forgotten about it. I can't remember how old I was when I wrote this, but the last time it was saved on my computer I was 13. My working masterpiece takes shape as a children's book about a Native American boy named Ducky. I would like to share it with you all now. tehe! 

Ducky Does It

Ducky was an Indian who was afraid of water. He was very short and couldn’t swim. He lived right next to a river. Ducky was only six years old, and he never went near the river because the water was cold and deep.

A whole year passed without Ducky going near the river. He was seven now and braver. He thought to himself, “I need to stand up to my fear.” So he went down to the river and sat down. After awhile he started to relax. He stood up and walked into the water. “This isn’t so bad,” he thought. Then he tripped over a rock and fell in. He quickly jumped to his feet and ran as fast he could back home.

It was already late in the evening, so Ducky went straight to bed. That night he had a terrifying nightmare. The nightmare was about him falling into the river, trying and trying to swim out, but he just couldn’t.

       That morning he woke up frightened into a cold sweat. The sun was up and as bright as ever. It was a warm day. He went back down to the river. He put his toe into the water, and said to himself,” The water is warm today.” Ducky walked into the water. His brain wanted to have 

 

And that's where I stopped! What a line! "His brain wanted to have..." So many potential things that his brain could have that I couldn't even finish my thought. Silly Andrew... 

Anywho, I think it would be really cool to write a book. I don't know what I would write about, but the challenge that it presents for me is incredibly appealing. One thing is for sure though, I won't be writing a book about a boy named Ducky. 

(Also, I went bowling and scored a 147. Ignore this final thought if you're better than me, and everyone else....Look at that number and be amazed!)

Life's Most Underrated Pleasures

Today, I want to share a list of those itty bitty things in life that are often forgotten when we think of the things that make us happy. Each of these items comes from a thread on Reddit. I've edited some for language and content, but they are still the thoughts of people from who-knows-where in the world.

So, life's most underrated pleasures:

• First gulp of water after walking home on a hot day. There really is nothing like it - but the satisfaction only lasts for about 0.5 seconds...
• Being finished with something you really dread doing. It's a huge weight off your mind and a sense of accomplishment rolled into one.
• That little window of time where you're lying in bed awake just on the precipice where you could fall back asleep for another hour or two if you wanted, and then you realize you can.
• When you're able to genuinely make another person(s) laugh.
• A head massage.
• Peeling the plastic sticker off new electronic devices.  
• Getting a good grade on the final exam of a class you hated and realizing you will never have to deal with that teacher's boring lectures again. 
• The countryside in summer.
• When I get home and my son hears me come in and I see his little smiley face from down the hall, and he goes PaPaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
• Fresh sheets on your bed.  
• When you have had water in your ear all day, and then that nice fuzzy moment when the lukewarm water leaves your ear!
• The absence of high stress.
• Peeling dried glue off your hands.
• Being smiled at.
• A poo in your own bathroom after a weekend away.
• Dipping your hands in a bag of beans.
• Having someone else wash your hair. I don't care what gender you are, if you are massaging my scalp, I love you.
• Smelling a new tennis ball.
• As a female, taking off your bra after a long day. It feels like the hills are alive with the sound of my free chesticles.  
• Opening up your windows after a long, cold winter. When the breeze brings the smell of flowers and freshly mowed grass into your bedroom.
• Getting home from being out on the town, the feeling of finally taking off your high heels. It feels like your heels are sinking into the floor, but it's soooo good.
• Farting after hanging out with people you can't fart in front of. Very very relieving.
• Cleaning out my ears with a Q-Tip.
• The first scissor cut into a fresh piece of construction paper.
• Finding out there was indeed one more chicken nugget when you thought there were none.
• Sneezing!
• Going to sleep with a bad headache, and waking up without one.
• Getting a package in the mail.
• That split second of silence when you go under a bridge while driving in a nasty rain storm. .001 seconds of bliss.
• Blowing your nose after it's been really stopped up and having a nice satisfying glob come out and suddenly, all at once, your nose is totally fine, no longer running, no longer stuffy, and you can breathe again.  
• Seeing the city limits of your hometown after a long drive back home.
• Turning the pillow over to the cool side.
• Sitting around the table after a big meal with yoir closest friends sharing in good stories and laughter. I could do that for hours.
• Being married for 20 years. It's no longer "romantic exciting love" but it's a type of love even more pleasurable. Too many divorces happen because this pleasure is underrated and people think new love is better.
• Your kids sleeping through the night.
• Catching a legendary pokemon with a regular pokeball.
• Playing a streaming video on the internet completely to the end without any <buffering...> pauses, looking straight at you youtube
• The smell of a new book.
• Walking in the door of the house you grew up in, smelling mom's dinner cooking.
• Completely losing the outside world while listening to headphones.
• Removing the sticky stuff that comes on gift cards.
• Bubble wrap. Pop Pop.....Pop...Pop.
• Sitting down after a long stand!
• Sitting down in the shower.
• Driving. People see it as a chore but it really can be wonderfully engaging and mediative. 
  
• Swimming naked.
• Having a fresh-from-the-dryer load of laundry thrown on top of you.
• Hearing that gentle crumbly sound your vacuum makes when it picks something up. (Or alternatively, mowing through really tall grass)
• Going pee after you have been holding it for a long time.
• Waking up feeling rested. It happens so rarely for me, that when it does I feel like I can take anything on that day.
• Taking off cold wet socks and putting on dry new ones
• Biting into a piece of freshly baked bread. mmm. 
• Having the song on the radio finish at the exact instant you pull into your driveway and turn off the car.
• Buying an epic present for someone else and then being like, yeah I know, I know!
• When you have an appointment with someone, but that person cancels on you last minute, giving you the opportunity to sit on the couch all night in your sweatpants. That night you're not alone because you have no social live, you have just received the gift of time.
• That feeling of accomplishment you get after cleaning your home from top to bottom.
• Creating something, then looking upon your creation and saying "I made that, that is mine."
• Being greeted by your dog.  
• Sitting around a campfire. Nothing like it.  
• The moment you see the waiter/waitress approaching on the horizon with your food. Drool.
• Being the first one to step on a freshly fallen snow. Especially when it's a bit frozen and you get that incredible sensation of hearing that crrrrraaaaaccccckkkkkk. Also, kicking dirty snow off my car. I love that.
• Silence.

  
  

  If you read this far, way to go! There were thousands more comments in the original thread. Take a moment and appreciate these small things, and always be on the lookout for the things that bring you joy.

  
  

When It's Cold Out, Head North

I have two things to say tonight. The first is about the past week, and the second is about me.

Number one. On Tuesday, Quaker Cottage headed north with eight families to start our January residential.  In case you haven't heard about our September residential and are confused by this word I keep using, residential is basically a four day retreat that we take with the families. We go to a place called Corrymeela near Ballycastle and have adventures and stuff.  The mums and the children are split up during the day. The mums do their own thing. The afterschoolers do another thing, and the babies cry, drool, and poop all day – you know, baby things.

A view of the north coast

Like last time, I was with the afterschoolers. My experience with the last group on residential left me with quite a lot of anxiety going into this one. I had such a difficult time last time, and there were a few children this time around who could have been just as much trouble. Thankfully, we (the staff) had learned a few things from last time, and they served us well. I’m happy to say that we managed to survive the four days without much trouble! Instead of letting the problem children run wild, we gave them an outlet. While the group of kids took a tour of castle ruins, we took one child out to hide chocolate coins for everyone to search for. It was wee things like this that helped us avoid some messy situations.

I tried to make notes of notable situations each day, but so many things happened that I missed most of them. Here are the ones that stood out:

Day 1:

• We took the kids to a beach for a treasure hunt. I was in charge of hiding all of the clues. Unfortunately for us staff, we had not considered high tide when we planned this outing, so we had to improvise. I hid clues everywhere, but it took me longer than I planned to hide them. As a result, I was running all over that beach to speed things up. Sometime during that running, the camera in my pocket popped out. I had no clue that it was missing. Later, I asked one of the other staff if she had the camera, and she said yes. So we still had the camera. Excellent! But wait! She actually had our other camera that the mums were supposed to have. We didn’t learn that the camera had been missing until some random person returned it to Corrymeela. Apparently they knew where to take it because I had taken a video of the kids singing “We’re all going to Corrymeela!” Anyway, boring story, but significant to me.

• While at the beach, the waves were really crashing on the beach, and the water was very cold. Despite being told to not get wet, every child got wet. What can you expect when you take children to a beach? One boy in particular got impressively wet though. Here’s how. He walks into the water and sits straight down in it as a wave washes over him. As one of my co-workers pulls him out, she asks him why he did that. His response: “When I go on holiday with my daddy, we sit in the ocean like that.” The only difference is that now it’s January and far from a summer holiday.

• There is an awesome park in Ballycastle where the playground is like a pirate ship stuck in the sand. For whatever reason, the designers of the park chose to anchor ropes into the ground that were set at perfect angles to trip you as you’re running. I watched the kids trip over those ropes at least 12 times that day, and I couldn’t help but snicker a bit after one boy tripped over the same rope twice in less than ten seconds. (He had also tripped a couple of times prior to this last incidence, but this one set him off. He began to kick sand at the rope with vigor.) Apparently, life doesn’t like you laughing at the misfortune of children though. Shortly after, two children began throwing sand, and as I started to chase after them, I suddenly found myself flying through the air. Not only had I tripped over the rope, I did it worse than anyone yet. The rope had caught me about six inches above my knee. I don’t even know how I made it to that point as there were a bunch of other ropes I had to get through before the rope was that high. However it happened, it was hilarious, and I accomplished my goal of stopping the kids because they came to laugh at me. The line from where the rope caught my leg was still visible 3 days later. That’s how hard I hit it.

Day 2:

• The same boy who had sat in the water on day one also gave me a line to laugh about on day two. Because of the cold weather, we had to bundle up. This boy came up to me at one point and said, “Silly Andrew! You left my hat on the bus!” I was not aware that I was in charge of his hat. Out of fear of his terrible retribution, I didn’t make that mistake again.

• While at the castle ruins, our tour guide told us of the luckiest room in the castle. He took us to it and told us that if we all touched the floor, it would bring us luck. After each of us had touched it, he said, “However, with luck comes consequence. What I did not tell you is that this was once the floor of the toilet.” I had a good laugh from that.

Day 3:

• By day three, I was pretty tired, so I forgot to take notes. However, one thing stands out. We had a wee romance building between a boy and a girl. Each day, we watched as the boy grew more confidant, and he eventually gave her a heart that he drew. This girl showed the heart to her mum and declared, “I’m skundered!” Yes, skundered. Never have I heard this word in any real life context. I wasn’t even exactly sure what she meant by it. In case you’re wondering and to save you the trouble of looking it up, it means she was embarrassed. 

And then on the last day, we woke up, cleaned up, and packed up.  Back home for lunch and a nap on the couch.

Now for part two of this post. Now I talk about myself a bit, and this is where it gets contemplative and somewhat serious. It’s where I ask you a question, and you spend the rest of the evening considering the answer until you go to sleep and forget about it.

We watched a movie during residential called Rise of the Guardians. Yes, it’s a children’s movie, and yes, I enjoyed it. Actually, I really really like most children’s movies, and the one over residential inspired me to watch another three during the weekend. There’s something about children’s movies that captures my imagination. There’s nearly always something magical in them or creatures that don’t belong in the real world. Every time that I watch such a movie or read a book of fantasy, my mind is opened to new worlds and experiences. It brings me back to my childhood. I’m sad to say that I feel like most of the imagination that I had as a child is now gone, but watching children’s movies nearly brings it back. And it reminds me to do everything I can to keep some magic alive inside me because as soon as I lose that magic, I know I’ll become a boring adult. Not that being a boring adult is a bad thing! It’s just not for me. (sorry boring adults!)

Another thing that is so wonderful about children’s movies is that they tend to have a moral to the story or some sort of deep question that kids may not always pick up on or have any interest in. Well, I do, and they often are some of my favorite questions. While watching Rise of the Guardians, one of these questions popped up. Here are just enough details of the movie for you to understand my point – The guardians are characters like Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost, etc. Jack Frost doesn’t know who he is or what his purpose is, so at one point Santa shows him…wait, you know what? Watch it for yourself: What is your center?

What is your center? Let that sit for a second. What is the core of your being? Who are you? What do you stand for? What do you bring to the world? … What is your center? It’s like each of these questions at once, and to be honest, it’s an incredibly hard one for me to answer. For the past few days, I’ve tossed around words like silliness, innocence, fun, energy, child-like… But none of them feel just right. I think the last one is the closest though.

So what is your center? I don’t think this is a question that you can answer straight away. I’ll be thinking a lot about it in the coming weeks. So if you feel up to it, find your center. Share it with me if you feel like it, but share it with the world too.