village – Shilpa's

Pronoia!

And I took that step at 50 years. When many are thinking about retirement, it is nothing short of crazy that I am starting a new career. After raising a family for 15 years, and spending countless hours volunteering at schools, when it was time to think about career part two, education seemed like a natural transition. However, wanting to be a teacher and actually teaching are two very different wants, and so started my journey as a para educator. After working for 5 years as a para educator, I learned how to communicate with students and gain the skills of one on one teaching. Then came the pandemic and while it created havoc for many families, it was also the much needed pause education industry needed. The dichotomy and deficits of the education policies came forward, EdTech took leaps of innovation, and as parents struggled to balance work and kids at home, for the first time in many decades teachers were at the center and their work was now meaningful. Somewhere in this pandemic, I also took a leap of faith and made the decision to apply for teaching role. I had genuinely thought, HR will come back and tell me the gaps in my resume and then I will need to build it up, but to my surprise, I was offered a role at my neighborhood high school.

I remember my first day in Jan 2022 – here I was hyper excited, but my enthusiasm was short lived because many in the department even before working with me, concluded, I can’t do this job. I genuinely thought of going back and spoke to the admin who interviewed me, a seasoned educator himself, he told me to take the day off ,and said, tomorrow will be a new day. I will always be grateful to him for this advise. I took this day off to find my village and after debating with myself, I emailed a veteran teacher at the school. Ms. A (now retired) responded, my door is open, come on in, and then there was Ms. P and Ms. K. The next day, I met my program specialist, Dr. H, and, so started the journey. I am forever grateful, and thankful to these two ladies, for showing me the way, how to write my IEPs, and reassuring me that I can do this. Along the way, I now have Ms. K next door, a fellow believer in Pronoia and it’s been the best few months. Ms. P and Ms. K were the lifelines of the classroom and together, we slowly started moving forward.

June 2024, I completed my second year of teaching at the high school and it is also the season of graduations. , I paid my dues, and after 2 years of college studies, with intern teaching, I officially turned the nay’s into yay’s and am now an Ed.Specialist. This journey has been very hard, very rewarding and I saw Pronoia in action. There were days when I was bone tired, mentally exhausted, and yet I managed to write the reports, complete CTC portfolios and more. The Universe kept me sane, and introduced me to people who shared the same values. I know I am blowing my own trumpet but I am so proud of myself, and happy with myself for not listening to the negatives and moving forward with the positives.

This journey would not have been possible, had it not been for the ASAP family… Together, you inspire more than you will ever know, and thank you for being patient with all those weeks when dinner was a takeout or a left over meal. Husband dear, your whistles reassure that this crazy roller coaster life will sort itself out. To my children – let this journey be a reminder that it is never too late to take a u -turn or walk a different path, especially if it feels right to you. I hope as you evaluate your career choices, you will continue to find opportunities that inspire you to get up everyday with a bounce in your step and a smile on your face. To my parents, I hope somewhere in this journey, you saw the values and the grit you instilled in me, and to all who said a no to me, I owe you a special thank you, because your no to me, helped me find the grit in me to move forward, so thank you!

In this journey, I have often stood on the side and made my notes .. Musings of an Educator… soon to come. Until then, stay well and stay you.

Very Happy for ME!

ReWriting!

This blog is my sanity space and it has been incredibly hard to keep it going. Many factors played into this and I can blame it on many different things, but at the end of the day it was me. It was me that was processing a gamut of emotions that have been flowing through now for 2 years. Emotions that have me jumping with joy and then those that have me in tears and somewhere between the spectrum; life happened.

28th December, 2022 – we took flight and headed for a family vacation to Big Island, Hawaii – Pictoblog coming soon! – I loved the sound of the ocean, as a self taught artist, I know the magic of blue and all it does to our neurons, the warm touch of the sand relaxed the muscles.. my favorite being the sand shifting under my feet as the wave pulls away and yet there was something that made me very wary of the beach. The strength of water, the never ending depths of the ocean and the simple truth that the ocean is always changing was always pulling me away from my calm zone and then I had to remind myself to come back.

This oxymoron of a vacation was just what I needed to reflect through – I wrote on restaurant receipts to Post it notes.. I started unbundling my thoughts.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”
– Aristotle

1/1/2023 . I made the effort to wake up early – The solo early morning in the Lanai with the meditative sound of the ocean waves helped me unravel the truths and learnings of 2022.

Truth 1: Despite the ebb and flow of tears, the year 2022 has been a year filled with incredible blessings. End of 2019, I realized it was time for me to put some extra effort into my career part 2 – during this time and continuing, I envisioned myself in a role and in August 2022, that role manifested itself and it was Pronoia coming alive. I found a new job, went back to college and the classroom is my safe space. I work hard to ensure it is a safe space for my students too.

Learning 1: This manifestation proved it to me that Pronoia is real and we just have to keep believing.

Truth 2: Pre-Covid we wanted exclusivity, during Covid we needed inclusivity and post covid we want inclusive exclusivity. To Include or not to include is a phrase that i hear often both in my personal and professional world. In theory we all agree. In practice we all differ. In the personal space, to me a village that supports each other beyond their own selves is one that thrives and smiles. As a person, I am either all in a friendship or all out – the modern day as needed or as per the moment need friendship has never been my style. I can either live in a village or not live in it. To me, a village comes with the good, the bad and the ugly – if we choose to live in it, we choose to accept it all. That’s just who I am and I have tried hard in 2022 to change that, but couldn’t do it.

Learning 2: This is MY way of thinking. Doesn’t have to be everyone’s.
Like my husband says – there are Billion + people in the world, and there are Billion + opinions. I have learned that many people choose to visit a village, and only stay if it fits into their timeline – I am learning to adapt to this style.

Truth 3: Logic says people can share each other’s experiences and avoid making the same mistakes, life says – they need to make those mistakes before they can learn.

Learning 3: Say less.

Truth 4: Cooking, Art and Writing continue to be my meditative practices.

Truth 5: The mountain protects me and I can close my eyes. The ocean keeps me alert.

Learning 4: I need to continue doing these irrespective of it all – so experiment more in the kitchen, more art and more writing.

Learning 5: I am a mountain person, but the family loved the ocean. So yes to more ocean vacations.

2023 – I welcome you with open arms and the request to give me space to ReWrite and move forward with the learnings of 2022 – Pronoia is real, Say Less, Practice my meditation, The Village will evolve, and more ocean time for the family.

type writer with Hemmingway quote on Rewriting — Why ReWrite

Quarantine Cupid Says; Build the Village, and Keep it Alive!

This village thing, it’s messy, it’s hard, it’s tricky and yet it is needed to thrive.

It’s hard, Why? Well because where are you going to find that first friend who you can trust? If you stay genuine, the friend will find you.

Be Genuine! It’s rare to find authenticiy in the world today and people value it; they just don’t think it’s cool to say that, so they don’t :)”

Building a Village - Be genuine — Be Genuine

It’s messy – very messy sometimes. Human beings are complicated – we love, we argue, and so much more. This is the time when you will need to dig deep inside, find that strength and focus on the Village and not your pride.

Ignore the argument and value the village.

It is tricky and the trick is keeping the village together. As human beings we always look for differentiation. We want to find our own kind. Our Soul friends as we say it. We all need them. In a village, if one can find a soul friend, it’s a blessing. The tricky part is keeping the blessing and still being a part of the village. Often in our excitement of finding the soul friends, we create our mini village and the bigger village gets fragmented.

This fragmentation is the tricky part. This is also inevitable. Happens in every village. There is not much one can do, because the village cannot be forced on anyone.

The hard and messy of this tricky fragmentation is to stay true to to the Village. Don’t fragment.

I know we blame the pandemic for everything, but this is not just the pandemic, it’s US. When Corona entered our life, the world came together, we were thankful to technology for letting us stay in touch with our loved ones. Country leaders forgot their differences and offered help across geographical boundaries. The social channel groups were streaming with messages – we checked on each other, we offered to buy groceries for each and we communicated. Then the year passed and a new year brought new hopes, but 2021 was brutal for many and we were tired, we were craving to hug our loved ones but we could not, so slowly we started losing hope. The Quarantine Cupid kept saying communicate and we continued to go silent. And so the fragmentation started.

Today, the pandemic has ended and the stories of war are resurfacing. Ironic, right… it took a pandemic to bring the world together. The pandemic is gone and here we are creating war and death again.

You can’t change the world, but you can change YOUR world. This valentines day – the Cupid wants you to build YOUR village and keep it alive. Reach out to the people in your lives, nurture, connect and build. A village where one can just be, embrace them all.

A village – It’s hard, it’s messy, and it’s tricky but it can be built.

Happy Valentine’s Day to My Village !