Category: education

Amy Wood at Kennebooks

by Karen, posted in books, education, local fun, writing

Amy Wood spoke at Kennebooks on Saturday, February 19. Her talk was part discussion and part reading (from her new book Life Your Way), followed by a question and answer period and then book signing.

Despite it being the beginning of a school vacation week, the little upstairs room filled with people eager to hear Amy tell us how to live “life your way”.

She tells us right off the bat that “I do everything according to my intuition, ” which generated many questions from the audience about the definition of “intuition” and how it shows up in one’s every day life.  Amy considered each question  thoughtfully and answered thoroughly.

Amy generously mentions books by other authors related to intuition and recommends them for further reading on the topic. Here are a few:

  1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
  2. Compass of the Soul (and others) by Lynn Robinson
  3. How Not to Marry the Wrong Guy by Anne Milford (coauthored with Jennifer Gauvain)

As Amy began reading aloud the chapter on “Optimism” from her book, my tween daughter grabbed my copy, found the right chapter, and began reading along, suggesting that this book can appeal to any age group. She focused on optimism because it can become a tool in your life, an “enviable skill” that can make your life easier, just as listening to your intuition, which (unlike Mapquest directions or ads from the high fructose corn syrup mongers) will never steer you wrong.

There is so much more information to sift through at any given time now that it can be helpful to just know when to stop. Joan Rivers? She is an excellent example of a person who does not know when (or how?) to stop. Seinfeld? He did.

The book is formatted so that it’s easy to read, a boon for busy, overscheduled people. Each chapter includes an “Apply the Wisdom” section at the end with a few bulleted strategies for using the points made in your everyday life right now (very user-friendly). You can start at the beginning, or let your intuition guide you to the best chapter(s) for you. 🙂 Read more about Amy’s book on my raisingmaine.com bookblog  here.

Kennebooks offered the audience the option of purchasing a bag lunch from Cheri’s in Kennebunk. For $10 you got a sandwich (choose one of three), chips, a cookie, and a bottled water. My daughter and I took advantage of this offer and split the meal. It was plenty for the two of us (we had some left over!) and it was excellent. We (my daughter and I) highly recommend that you take advantage of this offer if you ever get the chance.

Amy gives talks at different sites in Kennebunk and Portland. She will be at the Kennebunk Free Library for her workshop (which she gives quarterly) next on Tuesday, April 12 from 12:00P-1:00Pm. The presentation is enticingly titled: “Your Way and How to Find it”.  No commitment of time or money is involved. Just show up!

She will also be at the Portland Public Library on Wednesday, February 23 from 12:00PM to 1:00PM. Consider going to this (also free) event. You’ll be so glad that you did!

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The Universe’s ‘to-do’ list

by Karen, posted in books, education
My water tote!

I was rereading the book Ask and It Is Given by Jerry and Esther Hicks (which happened to be a book that I already owned) after my friend Stacey Brooks of Mainely You Massage recommended it.  In it, the authors describe 22 processes that anyone can practice to improve their life.

One of them is a twist on a ‘to-do’ list. Here’s what you do: get a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side at the top of the column write “My ‘to-do’ list” and put down the things that you want to get done today. No writing down a hundred things; just the things that you really will do that day.

On the other side of the paper, write “The Universe’s ‘to-do’ list” and put down all of those other things that you want to get done, but don’t know how to get them done (or just don’t feel like actually doing).

I had been looking for something I had misplaced for a week with no luck, so I figured, What the heck? I got dutifully got out my paper, made my two columns, and on the left (my) side, I wrote: write, read, work, have fun and feel good. On the right (Universe’s) side I wrote  (among other things) : return my water cup in the black tote to me.

Then I forgot about it. An hour later, I had located my lost item! I didn’t even remember writing the list until several hours after that when I was gathering up my papers to get ready to leave work.

Maybe it was a coincidence?

Val Walker at Kennebooks

by Karen, posted in books, education, family, friends, good grief

Val Walker came to Kennebooks to talk about her new book The Art of Comforting. This author’s talk started off feeling like a course in sociology, as

Val Walker

she described different models of counseling (companioning, relational….), but then it quickly became more personal, as she related some examples of comforting from occasions in her own life when she’d needed it.

She explored the question of what it means when someone says they are “there for you”, and what that shape that might take as a comforting act for another. Sometimes, just sitting with someone and letting them “feel their feelings” is all that is required.

Val thinks that to be an effective comforter, one must “let go of the outcome” (this phrase will be familiar to you yogis out there :)).  One will not always know if her comforting efforts have been helpful, and it is not necessary to know. The fact that effort was made is enough.

After the talk, Val offered to take questions from the audience, however it was a rainy night, and many of those present had traveled a fair distance to see her, and they were anxious to head home, so she graciously changed course and immediately proceeded to signing books.

As a side note, Kennebooks always puts put coffee (the coffee is good!) and cookies (the cookies are good too!) for all of their book signings, as well as water and tea. They are always enjoyable and who knows? You may even learn something new!

The rule of tree…I mean three

by Karen, posted in education, friends, Someone's gotta say it, tweens

So, although I’d been complaining in an earlier post about the homework my daughter’s teachers had been assigning to the parents…I mean, the kids… I have to revisit my resentment some in light of the unexpected gifts that one of these assignments has had for us.

The (dreaded) Tree Project is the assignment to which I am referring (any mother who has had a child attending our local junior high school in the past 20 years or so will be familiar with this). After I heard some of the other moms talking about their efforts to help, like: “I spent 2 1/2 hours one Saturday afternoon driving my daughter around to get leaves!” for example (after I’d walked my daughter around the school yard for 15 minutes, got a mosquito bite, and called it a day), I was shamed off the bench and into the woods to help find leaves.

Toward this end, I asked a couple of work colleagues if they had any interesting trees in their yards that they’d be willing to ravage for leaves, nuts (extra credit!), bark, (same!), berries (same!)…you get the idea.

Well. They sure did.

  1. My friend Jody produced Pin Cherry leaves and then took a chance and loaned us a treasured little book, Advice from a Tree by Ilan Shamir. Last weekend we read this book together on the couch (with the TV off!), and talked about what it meant to “Be content with your natural beauty” and to “Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes“…oh yes, and to “Drink plenty of water“…even trees know this!
  2. My friend Sheri produced a Beech Tree leaf with the coveted beechnut to go along with it. She also sent Izzy and me a copy of the tree poem, which I am planning to read with her this weekend.
  3. My friend Doreen brought leaves from a Quaking Aspen tree.  Izzy now has all of her pages filled in her Leaf Project book, which was her goal. The gathering is done!

So, these are the tree gifts: a book, a poem…and remembering what a great gift good friends are. 🙂

Homework

by Karen, posted in education, family, Someone's gotta say it, tweens

Well, after only the first month of school we’ve already had 4 homework assignments…for the parents.

  1. The first day of school brings the myriad of (redundant) forms that we have to fill out for each child every year, regardless of whether the information has changed even one iota from last year, regardless of whether it is the same for both (or multiple) children, except for their names and dates of birth.  Here’s an idea: Let us do it online! They let us send lunch money online now, and they send us school notices online as well (so that we have to subject our own printers to wear and tear, use our own ink and paper to print out notices and forms. . .but I digress). Why can’t we have our New School Year Forms online, then update only what needs updating and email them to the school? Time saved: approximately 2-5 hours (or more, depending on how many children you have and how complex their medical histories, etc. might be).
  2. The next assignment we got was this:  In a million words or less, write an essay about your child. Enough said.
  3. Then, a Current Events homework assignment came home for the student, which says the parent must assist them in these projects. Weekly. If it can’t be done without the parents’ help, clearly it is too advanced for most 6th graders to undertake. To me, this translates to: Not Appropriate Homework for a Sixth Grader. Am I wrong?
  4. The Leaf Project. Anyone who has lived in my town for the past decade or two (at least) is familiar with this one. Now, I have to be fair: it isn’t explicitly stated that parents have any involvement, but hey, it’s not like the 6th graders can drive themselves around looking for the 20 different types of leaves they need!

How do you feel about getting homework from your tween-agers’ teachers?

Conscious eating (WF&G week 2)

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, education, family, health

There I was,  in week 2. Here is what I’ve learned:  conscious eating is hard. Applying those 7 principles is hard.

 Regarding principle #3:  It is very hard to not do another blessed thing when you are eating, ever. Plus, I totally miss reading while I’m eating if I am eating alone. Regarding principle #2:  It also is hard for me to always sit down while eating. I sit down for 10 hours (plus commuting time) every day that I go to work, so I always stand while I am eating on my lunch breaks.  Regarding principle #4: It’s not always possible to tell if it’s my body or my mind that wants the tiramisu.

I know now why author Geneen Roth gives workshops about how to eat consciously: I’m guessing that few, if any, people would stick with it if they didn’t have the structure imposed upon them by another (structure that they had to pay for; money motivates).

I briefly entertained the idea of applying the “80/20” rule to conscious eating, but decided that it sort of demeaned it. I mean, I could have lived with it if I eliminated numbers 2, 3 and 4….

So, bottom line is this: week 2 was a bust.

Sad day for tomatoes

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, education, family, gardening, raising chickens
rescued tomatoes

Well, I have some distressing news today: they have come. The dreaded tomato horned worm has invaded my tomato garden. In all of the years that I’ve been growing tomatoes, this is a (terrible) first. I guess it’s true: if you plant it, they will come. 

It’s especially depressing because (for once!) this has such a promising year for tomatoes so far! They are plentiful, robust plants this year, which almost never happens. 

So, the time has come for me to admit the truth: I am a wimpy gardener. I hate picking the pests off of the plants leaves and fruits; it makes my skin crawl. Of course, that is the first line of defense against so many pests: remove and squish them. 

But I can’t really complain. I am fortunate. I am married to man who loves me more than he hates tomato pests. He is the one who hand-picked all of those repulsive, large, green wormy caterpillary horned creatures from my tomato plants and then fed them to the chickens (circle of life, baby; circle of life). 

Why not just turn the chickens loose on the tomato beds? Because chickens love eating tomatoes as much as the tomato hornworms love eating tomatoes, so there is a basic conflict of interest there. 

If you want to see what these disgusting creatures look like, click here, then scroll down for the pictures on the left side of the text. 

Of course, there are various and sundry poisons to use for most pests, but doesn’t it give you pause when you think about eating the food that has potentially internalized the poison that you are hoping kills some living thing? 

So, what do you do? Pick, squish, then hope for the best? or do you follow that with a good dousing with the poison of your choice?

Reunions

by Karen, posted in education, family

My 30th high school reunion is coming up this November. I have been to only one thus far, the 10th, mostly because I never received any notice of any of the reunions (found out about the 10th from a friend I happened to run into one day while food shopping). Enter Facebook; suddenly I am findable..and was found.

Coincidently, I recently read the book The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg, finishing it just prior to learning about the upcoming reunion, which I believe has put me in a receptive frame of mind for reunion-going.

If I remember correctly, we had in excess of 600 people in my graduating class. One inventive alumnus set up a reunion page on Facebook, and to date, there are about 178 of us accounted for. I say “about”, because the number is growing every day. I think it makes going to the reunion less threatening, more accessible, sort of, when you have the opportunity to “meet” up again with people prior to the actual event.

It’s amazing to chat online with people that you know but haven’t seen or talked to (for the most part) for thirty years. I am thinking it will be more fun if I get motivated to pull out my high school yearbook (hmmm, it’s around here somewhere…) and look back at us then, and next check out the pictures of us on Facebook now. Some of us have kids that now are about the same age that we were when we graduated.

I also learned from a quick google search that there is a website for my graduating class (full disclosure: the first one I found was not for my state. Duh. Note to self: always include the state when googling a city!). Good thing I checked the list of names (of which I recognized none! My first clue that I was in the wrong place!) before I bought the tickets through Paypal.

So, how do you all feel about high school reunions? To go, or not to go…that is the question.

Lunch and learn

by Karen, posted in education, good grief, health

The first Thursday of the month, Amy Wood Psy.D. presents a workshop series entitled “Lifewise at Lunch”. It’s held at the Kennebunk Free Library downstairs in Hank’s Room.

It kicked off last week on June 3rd. The talks run from noon until 1:00pm She began and ended this first one on time, so if you work in the area and want to pop in on your lunch break, it might be doable. There were around 20 people attending, ranging in age from a toddler (with his mother) to a man who was 89  (I know this because he announced it to the presenter). She handed out an outline upon which she elaborated a bit but,  for the most part, stuck to closely.

Some of these people had clearly attended her talks in the past, and therefore knew each other, but there were some first timers like myself. Amy was gracious and welcoming to us all.

The subject of this first talk in the series was “Getting Unstuck”. Amy welcomed questions from the audience throughout, and treated them all (including, “How do you not get to be 89 years old?) with dignity and respect…and some humor.

Other talks coming up in the series include: Improving Your Intuition, Thriving in the Face of Change, Overcoming Overwhelm, Emotional Intelligence, Boosting Your Creativity, What’s the Use of Worrying, Living From a Strengths-Based Perspective, and Letting Go of Self-Limiting Beliefs.

For you indecisive people and you last-minute people out there, you don’t have to register in advance; just show up.
Have any of you attended any of these “Lifewise at Lunch” talks before? What did you think?

hula hoops; not just for kids anymore

by Karen, posted in education, family, fitness, health, tweens

who knew? hula hooping is now being touted as a way to get aerobic exercise and stay fit, even to help aid weight loss efforts. 

if you are thinking about trying it, you will find that there are options.

  1. the color, the size, the heft of the hoop…all can be predetermined by you, depending on your goals (have fun? lose weight? Have fun with your tween or teenager? ) and your budget (extra colors can cost ya).
  2. if you’d like to order your own custom made hula hoop, check out HoopaLula! or maybe you’d like to try making your hula hoop yourself? here’s online instructions from hooping.org.
  3. if you investigate, you probably can find a hooping class to “try before you buy”. there’s one upcoming in Wells offered through WOCSD Adult Ed: Hula Hoop Fitness for Beginners.
  4. are there risks? well, if you have any history of back problems, you may want to check in with your doctor before trying this. check out the mayo clinic website fmi.

have any of you out there over 12 years old tried hula hooping lately?   what did you think?