Leading Through Learning
Ramblings about education, perspective and life.
December 2019
December 31st, 2019
“He set the North star in the heavens; he meant I should be free.”
- Harriet Tubman
As we bring the year to a close, let us remember that we stand as a country on the foundations of freedom, liberty and justice. How do we use love to further these values? How can we continue to seek the love needed to protect that which strengthens us?
DECEMBER 30th, 2019
“Happiness is someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
- Chinese proverb, 365 Days of Wonder Mr. Browne’s Precepts by R.J. Palacio
Purpose sparks love.
December 29th, 2019
“What mattered most was knowing that love was mine to give, without strings or expectations.”
- Nicholas Sparks
Love remains a choice. Each day, each moment we choose to approach our lives with a lens of how will we give love.
December 28th, 2019
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
- Stephen Chbosky
December 27th, 2019
“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.”
- Author Rubinstein
December 26th, 2019
“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
- John Steinbeck
Clear nights and frosty days contrast the hot and lazy summer months. Both hold promises of the end and the beginning – life’s cycle embodied in our seasons and as well as in our days.
December 25th, 2019
“Christmas is forever, not just for one day. For loving, sharing, giving, are not to be put away.”
- Norman Wesley Brooks
In quiet moments of united gratitude we are part of something greater, something beautiful, something promising. For the many possibilities of tomorrow and the lessons of yesterday convene to form the most precious present of all. Now.
December 24th, 2019
“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.”
- Peg Bracken
Through our celebrations and appreciation of the many blessings of our lives let us value above all else the time and love shared with those who matter most.
December 23rd, 2019
Share the love.
December 22nd, 2019
“Let us love winter for it is the Spring of genius.”
- Pietro Aretino
After living in South Florida for a number of years, I will always treasure winter. I believe without cold, gray days the sunny ones aren’t quite as bright.
December 21st, 2019
“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of those things not meant for you.”
- Buddha
December 20th, 2019
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate every now and then doesn’t hurt.”
- Charles Schulz
DECEMBER 19TH, 2019
“Be in love with your life. Every minute of it.”
- Jack Kerouac
The guarantee of change makes life’s moments fleeting. We hold onto that which makes us feel alive: the joy and the pain, the freedom and the suffering. Love is in all of the extremes our lives consist of; therefore, the choice to love is always ours.
DECEMBER 18TH, 2019
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
- Maya Angelou
Love takes courage. Courage to be vulnerable, courage to be honest, courage to risk losing. Life without love lacks purpose. Courageous love sparks possibility.
December 17th, 2019
“The course of love never did run smooth.”
- William Shakespeare
Smooth roads symbolize ease, clarity, and simplicity. Rough roads symbolize grit, strife, and complexity. Love lives within both for the road will not always be smooth; nor will it always be rough. A full life promises both because only when we are riding rough do we appreciate the smooth road and when the road is rough we challenge our ideas and change our direction.
December 16th, 2019
“Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love.”
- Marvin J. Ashton
December 15th, 2019
“Where there is love, there is joy.”
- Mother Teresa
December 14th, 2019
“Love yourself first and everything else will fall into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
- Lucille Ball
When we love ourselves, we create space to honestly reflect on our strengths, weaknesses, dreams, and joys. We find balance between our responsibilities and what sparks love in our hearts. We learn to recognize the guidance our feelings provide us and not run from the discomfort when we learn new truths. We trust new truths lead to new depths of love and light.
December 13th, 2019
“I love that blurry place where life’s transitions are made without you even knowing it.”
- Ann Brashares
Although sometimes our pictures are blurry, love helps us see the beauty anyway. Pictured above is the last full moon of 2019. As a cycle ends, love gently guides us to begin again.
December 12th, 2019
“The giving of love is an education in itself.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Who are we to assume our love is or isn’t enough? Who are we to assume that love alone will solve problems and bring awareness to new realizations? Who are we to assume love isn’t the answer for our pain? We are the only ones who can grow through love and we are the only ones who can turn to love for direction.
December 11th, 2019
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in an conspiracy of love.”
- Hamilton Wright Mable
Regardless of what you celebrate or worship, no one can deny the power of a season devoted to recognizing hope, love, and kindness towards humanity.
December 10th, 2019
“Live the life you love. Love the life you live.”
- Bob Marley
Love resides in the flow. When we are going where we are guided to travel we find what we need and what fills our hearts. When we fight the flow we fight love. We forget we are a part of something bigger and often are met with frustration. Sometimes the flow scares us. Sometimes the flow humors us. To seek the flow is to seek love. Can you live the life you love and love the life you live?
December 9th, 2019
“Love’s greatest gifts is its ability to make everything it touches sacred.”
- Barbara De Angelis
When we express love for humanity we listen, we thank, we appreciate, and we honor the space we connected. The spark of love moves us from an idea to a reality with time stringing the two together.
Pictured above is the celebration cake for Learning Forward’s 50th anniversary. Milestones invite us to reflect, honor, appreciate, and recognize the role and contributions of love. This one celebrated a love of learning and leading.
December 8th, 2019
“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.”
- Charles Dickens
Wisdom lives within love. When we love fearlessly and radically we find a truth that is unencumbered by social pressure, doubt, and excuses. Within the wisdom lives courage. Courage to look closer, understand better, and to proceed with clarity.
December 7th, 2019
“To heal is to touch with love that which we previously feared.”
- Stephen Levine
Awareness changes how we act. Recognizing our fear takes honest self-reflection and discomfort. In order to seek our path, we must go where the current flows – even when it scares us to do so.
December 6th, 2019
“Love all, trust a few, and do harm to none.”
- William Shakespare
When we practice gratitude we are inviting love into our lives. Even when we don’t feel confident or are frustrated, we can still practice gratitude. Our feelings provide us the guidance we need to seek gratitude or fear. We always have the choice of which way we go.
December 5th, 2019
“The chance to be love exists no matter where you are.”
- Oprah
The tree above is right outside my children’s school. As we were walking, my daughter spotted the bird’s nest tucked away in the tree. She noted it was the perfect home. The berries provided food, the branches protection, and another nest close by. An example of how nature sparks love.
December 4th, 2019
“You always gain by giving love.”
- Reese Witherspoon
Over Thanksgiving break we traveled to Philadelphia. I was humbly reminded again of the amazing creation our forefathers created in our Declaration of Independence. Despite the reality of inequality within their lives, they created together a foundation of equity, acceptance, and path to honor diversity. We all gained through a collective giving of their love.
December 3rd, 2019
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love lives through our choice to recognize and celebrate the grace in our lives. Love allows us to understand clearer, feel deeper, cry harder and laugh louder. When love is the guiding force in our lives, we can trust our instinct and believe in that which we cannot see.
December 2nd, 2019
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
- Jimi Hendrix
Power and love intersect to create peace. Love influencing decisions allows for positive change. Power alone influencing decisions often invites fear. Love transforms fear into faith.
December 1, 2019
Spark Love
Today we begin a new month. A new opportunity to live with purpose, with awareness, with intention to strive for balance, for patience, for wonder, and for love. This month holds the celebration of a year behind us and the promise of a new year to begin. It is easy to overindulge, to become overwhelmed, to buy and eat and lose sight of what is important. However, if we are clear on who we want to be this holiday season and respect our limits found in our truth, we then allow love to guide our decisions and our perspectives. Join me daily as we look at the power of love and the light it emulates, promises, and guides us on our journey through endings and beginnings.
My Favorite Pictures
