A little bit better…
By Kristen on Nov 30, 2007 in Life - a little bit better
After reading today’s Zen Habits posting, I couldn’t help but think about how blogging has made me a better person… Sound extreme? Well, after fifteen years teaching literature and writing to adolescents — which I mostly loved, almost every day — I needed a change. My spark had dimmed and the accumulation of fifteen years on stage was becoming a burden to my extremely introverted self. Thankfully, the quirky, bizarre world of the adolescent was still quite fresh and rejuvenating, even on the very last day of the school year, but I decided a “sabbatical” of sorts was in order. “Sabbatical” is in quotes, because I was afraid after a year off that I wouldn’t want to return to teaching, so I requested a leave instead — no income, but no responsibility to come back, either.
The question was… what to do with my year? For a few months, I had been ruminating on an idea that combined my passion for literature with my desire to help others, plus allowed me to work from home and get off stage for a bit. So, I started creating Kits for book clubs with the vague plan of creating a web site in order to sell them. The idea was to use my strengths — a passion for and knowledge of great literature and exceptional writing — and attempt to “teach from home.” However, I have very cursory tech-skills and figured I would have to hire someone to navigate the web design waters — I honestly had no idea what blogging was all about. Happily, two friends lent me their time, energy, and knowledge and introduced me to the blogosphere.
Unexpectedly, learning about blogging not only gave me a forum for my book club kits idea, but helped with my other goal for the year: Trying to do everything a little bit better. When I’m teaching, my students and job consume my life and everything takes a back seat. This year, I wanted to improve every area of my life at least a little bit: relationships, spirituality, environmental awareness, my animals, laundry, driving, everything.
Since I discovered blogging, I have been daily impressed, rejuvenated, educated and counselled by the kindness of strangers. The blogosphere seems to be this community of people who want make someone’s life just a little bit better. In fact, I fear that I’m becoming a bit of a “blogaholic” and I have needed to streamline my days to limit the time I spend reading my favorite blogs — which I wrote about in a recent post.
I truly feel as if I’m a better person, after only 1 month of blogging. I’m certainly happier, but the problem is… I’m not sure I’m fulfilling my desire to benefit others — certainly not as much as I was when teaching – and maybe not at all. Honestly, I’m not around many people on a daily basis. But thinking about Leo’s take on our car society, I am trying really hard to be a less aggressive driver — I still commute an hour a day to where my horse lives and this goal is a daily challenge. And I’ve signed up with the Minnesota Center for the Blind to read books on tape. But my goal for the end of this school year is find a concrete way to make others’ lives a little bit better through my blog. One idea I thought of during my morning drive to the barn – maybe I could alter my book club kits to fit classrooms and offer them for free? Just a thought, but I’ll keep working on it… Thank you, Leo, and to all bloggers out there who have made my life and the lives of so many others a little bit better!
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Contrary to popular belief, the end of the year is one of the best times to look for, awesome descion
sasha brinkova | Dec 11, 2007 | Reply
Thank you! Check out my posting on Dec. 18th… Great idea for a meme and I’m glad you including me!
Kristen | Dec 18, 2007 | Reply