Sandy & Facebook : An interesting pair

While Facebook gets a bad name for encouraging cyber-bullying and the stealing of your privacy or pictures, it is clear that even a storm can bring out the best in people and social networking. I haven't connected with anyone yet who is able to fully comprehend the devastation and mass destruction throughout the tri-state area of Hurricane Sandy. 

The generosity and compassion of people advertising their homes for food, shelter, a hot shower, or a free outlet on Facebook is super cool. For many of us braving the storm inside, we found comfort and shelter in family or old friends. I braved the storm with long time friend Jackie Gonzalez. We reminisced about youth ministry days, mission trips to Kentucky, and things that happen over 15 years ago. We laughed just as hard as we did then! 

In some of those pictures we were looking at from service trips of the 90's, we found the face of current NY state senator David Carlucci, who back then was serving selflessly, and continues to now. Senator Carlucci has been using his Facebook page to keep Rockland residents up to date of all relief services available and other important information they need. I am proud to say "I knew him when!"

Without power or TV, Facebook was the only connection to the outside world during the storm. Old high school classmate Deidre Moran Costello who lives out of the area kept all of us disconnected people updated by posting CNN updates on her Facebook wall. For many hours, this was the only way I could tell what was going on around us. 

Others kept us laughing through the insanity. My Facebook friend humor award goes to Evan Behlivanis who kept his network rolling with hysterical theater references, jokes personifying Sandy that rocked, and the best commentating on Bloomberg press conferences around. Let's face it, we need a good laugh in times of tragedy. 

What inspired this writing today? A Facebook friend, Travis Brimner posted the following: "We need prayers and thoughtfulness BEFORE the storm not after it." Yes, this is true. The generosity and humanity being showed right now is a great way to realize just how awesome human beings are. This capacity to be extraordinary is clearly inside so many of us, and we all just need to remember that the storm didn't put it there. It was always there, being drawn out of us in moments of dire need and desperation. Even if we don't show it each day, try to remember its presence within you as often as possible, and elicit the best of others when we get back to "normal" (If there is such a thing anymore!). 

Though I hate this situation and everything related to it, I am grateful to be reminded of the reason I never give up on anything: People are truly good inside. Even if it takes devastation to bring it out, never give up on that goodness even if appears to lie dormant. Reflect this goodness and others will reflect it back to you. 

To all of those extraordinary people, and the Facebook ordinary heroes - Thank you!

The Great Outdoors

When I see many people in person with whom I am friends with on Facebook, it often comes up that I am obsessed with the view from my apartment. Several times a month you will find me posting pictures of the beautiful New York skyline. Each picture is completely different with the sky and sun often dancing in different configurations.

As the lovely Ann Margaret Lyons once commented on one of the pictures: “No two pictures are the same!” Yes, almost every morning where the sun decides to shine, from my pillow I can see it rise. I feel at times my body is almost timed  to sense the warm glow through my curtains. Some mornings, I abruptly wake up with no alarm, grab my phone, and run to the balcony. It does have a mini Christmas morning feeling as I wait to see how God has painted the sky on these special mornings.

I was never the outdoorsy type. I used to hear friends talking about going camping and think to myself. “No way, I am never doing that.” In recent years, having taken many of my students on service trips and staying in some pretty God forsaken places, I have become much more open and appreciative of the joy that can come from experiencing the natural beauty that is all around us.

When people here I live in New Jersey, natural beauty is not the first thing that comes to mind. I wish you could hear the waves of the Hudson at night that rock me to sleep, or the peace that is present right now as I type this with the balcony door open and the night sky beginning  to fall.

The first night I was in the apartment I experienced a kind of healing that I have not been able to explain or fully understand. The water has truly been a source of peace and comfort to me in moments when I most needed it. Even if it makes no noise, its simple presence is calming and centering.

If there is anything I can appreciate about getting older it is deepening appreciation for certain simple things such as this. As the unofficial start of summer begins to wind down, I am excited for warm nights on the balcony, or mornings with my book or a journal. I feel like a kid looking forward to summer if just to be able to be outside.  Who would have thought a big-haired girl from the 80’s and 90’s who would have preferred a shopping mall over nature is pretty content to just sit and listen to a river. For this, and for the opportunity to live here, I am most grateful.

Children Will Listen - Really THEY WILL!

At the age of 12 I remember going on the Camp Ramaquois Day trip to see "Into the Woods." A budding theater geek with a memory like a movie camera, I still remember hearing the character of the witch sing "Children will Listen." I would later perform this song in various venues as it held a special place in my heart. Though not a parent, the gift of being an educator is seeing children and teenagers from a detached vantage point. I love my students, and though not fully responsible for their well-being and survival, I charge myself with contributing to their understanding of themselves and the world. With the unique opportunity to teach character development and leadership through numerous lens' I often impart messages to my girls that I hope they will take with them. They are sometimes simple lessons that are obvious but sometimes go unspoken. 

While completing a leadership class for this semester, I ended my last lesson on the importance of "The Now." Trying to avoid too much cliché I focused on the observation of our attachment to the past or reliance on the future. As a teenager, learning to let and grow is a challenge. Of course one must plan for their future and lean into it with enthusiasm. (Hey, I am queen of excel spreadsheets, lists, and planners ; who am I to talk?)  The precious moments of "now" are fleeting before your eyes. This detachment from what has been or what will be is a glorious opportunity. We are invited to savor life like a good hot soup on a cold winter afternoon. 

I know we think kids don't always listen. It's true, they don't, but they do listen a whole lot more than we think they do. Don't you remember words that stung or inspired you from your childhood? They carry our messages with them wherever they go, impacting their souls beyond what even they can see. 

While perched on my couch the other night looking out at the moon reflecting off the rippling Hudson I received a quick email from a student who was in the class I mentioned above:

"Ms L! I just had a terrible day but I wanted to let you know I remembered what you told us about living in the present and not worrying about the past or future. It helped me feel so much better! Thanks for the advice!"

I am not special. I don't write this for accolades, for I see the fruit of my labor every day before my eyes. Please don't leave me a compliment, instead please PAY IT FORWARD.  I write so you know of the impact you can have on a child and see just how powerful we all are. Share your stories with kids in your life and the wisdom you have accrued. They will listen. 

In the words of the GREAT Stephen Sondheim: 

Careful the things you say

Children will listen

Careful the things you do

Children will see and learn

Children may not obey, but children will listen

Children will look to you for which way to turn

To learn what to be

Careful before you say "Listen to me"

Children will listen...

My favorite part later in the song:

Guide them but step away

Children will glisten!