Today was a beautiful day. It was a hopeful day where everything just came together. I spent the morning researching for an after-school program I will help led this year and things just kept coming together. To quote Paulo Cohelo, it was as if the universe was conspiring to arrange things in my favor.

I am truly hopeful tonight that things are good in the world. That there are enough people struggling toward wholeness, integration, and humanity that we wont be overcome. And that's a beautiful thing!

It begins...

My hamster, Ferdinand, died this weekend. I came back from a week in Boston to find him. I was very sad. I am tempted to reflect here about life and death, but I've got something else to talk about.

Today was a new beginning. We started back at our office located in Timberland's headquarters in Stratham, NH. It is good to be back. The office and the drive is all so familiar, but there is also a different air to this year. We are all back here to start fresh and we are all inspired (dare I say idealistic) enough to do it.

We talked a lot today about big picture stuff, which I like. We talked about our roles for this year and the sites general goals. We also each chose a practice to be in charge of this year. They ranged from very City Year phrases, like "It takes a village" which means we all have to take care of each other to simple things like "Encourage creativity". I chose one that states "Celebrate and share small successes" which basically just means that I want to make sure that everyone feels appreciated this year. It is hard when I am in the midst of something, like planning a service project, to stop and remember to celebrate but it is really the key to getting through.

I have also been thinking about some things I want to work on this year. I have never been the official leader of a group, so I am very excited to see what comes out leading a team a five corps members in my school. I feel like I have lots of good ideas but putting them into practice is going to be a challenge. Along with that, I want to work on my self confidence in large groups...including public speaking. I feel like I could be good at it, I just get really nervous even talking to a small group. Practice? So I want to challenge myself in this area.

There are other challenges, but those are the two that come to mind right now. I'll let you know how it goes.

Peace.

I love the IDEA of City Year

So, here is a long overdue post.

My summer break has come and gone. It was full of travel, the southwest, good friends, laughter, ocean, silence, neon lights, prayer, family, and a whole lotta love! What more could I ask for. It is not well documented like last summer's excursions, but I think I like it that way. I stayed very much in the moment.

And now I am back in the northeast with all its people and humidity. I am actually in Boston at the moment. I flew home to New Hampshire last Friday, spent Saturday moving into my new apartment in Manchester, then drove down here for a week long training with City Year people from all over the country. It's called Summer Academy.

So, three million years ago I promised you all more of a reason for why I decided to come back to City Year. The most honest reason is probably that committing to grad school scared me. But aside from deciding what I want to do with my life, at the end of last year I felt like I was not done with City Year. That I had a lot left to learn. That I had a lot left to give.

And that was confirmed these last two days. I love the values that City Year is founded on, the care and ideals that the leaders bring. I love feeling like I am part of something bigger than myself. This was a weird realization for me since I always considered myself a very independent person. But there you have it!

Yesterday during training we talked about our presence as leaders. The thing I enjoyed most is the emphasis they put on using silence. There is power in silence that many leaders don't know how to harness and tend to fill up with words. But even just a moment of silence centers a group and centers the leader. We practiced by writing a statement, "I serve because...", and then presenting that statement to a small group. We all practiced using silence and our presence with a group. As my new friend Lan would say, good stuff!

The evening session was based on the book, "The Anatomy of Peace". I have not read it, but I am very curious now I don't want to try to explain it because my tired brain will not do it justice but I'll let you know after I read it. In short it is the idea of interacting with people from a Heart at Peace not a Heart at War and seeing others and People not Objects. Also good stuff.

So that is why I came back to City Year. With all its flaws and the frustrating times I had last year, being around a group of people committed enough to teach and live these ideas is good for me. I am learning, I am putting into practice a lot of things I learned during college, and hopefully I am teaching what I can. I came back to City Year because there is no other place for me at this moment where I can practice and screw up and keep trying the ideals that I hold in my heart. I am glad that I am here.

Tonight the CEO of City Year talked to the group. It was inspirational on so many levels; I came out of it feeling like a sugar-hyped, sleep-deprived, twelve-year-old at a sleep over with her best friends, if you know what I mean :) But he left us with this. City Year has a motto, "Give a year. Change the world." Micheal Brown challenged us in the next twenty years to grow. "Give a year. Change the universe". Heck yea!

how time flies

I am writing to you from Ba' Haba' (or Bar Harbor, but I find it hard to say without the accent). I am also writing to you as a graduate of City Year New Hampshire. And in perhaps the most shocking news, even to myself, I am writing to you as a soon to be Service Leader at CYNH. Yep, I'm coming back for a second year! Who'd a thunk?

So my dad flew out to help me move to Ithaca for grad school, but since that plan got postponed we decided to just goof of on the east coast while he's out here instead.

Maine is beautiful. I thought New Hampshire was nice, but Maine has so many fewer people and so much more ocean. We watched the sun set from a sand bar in the bay and it was just beautiful. Tomorrow we are going to drive back along the coast to see lighthouses and antiques (hopefully with some ice cream thrown in).

I'll blog more about why I am coming back to City Year in the next couple days.

swimming in the lampery river

Yesterday my roommates and I got a call from our neighbors after work, "Put on your swim suit and come swimming now." After hemming and hawing we agreed. It turned out to be the most wonderful and most necessary experience for the moment.

We ended up a mile north of our apartment walking on a trail next to the railroad tracks ending in a calm river flowing slow toward the Great Bay. It has been in the 90s with 90% humidity and no air conditioning at school. It was pure pleasure to jump into the cool water.

I floated on my back watching a lone dragon fly buzz from shore to shore. I realized that thanks to Emily and her triathlons that I'm a pretty decent swimmer. I did some free style and splashed around with friends and even found a rope swing (it needs some work).

We got out with that I just did a lot of work kind of hunger and immediately went to get Chinese food. Food never tastes so good as after a long swim in a murky river. A perfect end to a not so perfect day.

update in pictures

We took my teammate, Blaze, to the aquarium in Boston for his birthday last week...




Here's my whole team showing off our handiwork on the blacktop.

Another shot of the team :)


I'm kinda proud of the above picture.