A Disturbance in the Force

As of this writing, over 240 people have perished in the Philippines, after terrible floods swept the capital city of Manila and surrounding neighborhoods this past weekend, leaving over 80 percent of the capital underwater. 

If you are able to, please support one or more of the relief efforts.

On another note, I received an e-mail update from my uncle with the status of my family (all is well) and a description of the event, but what caught my eye was this part of the e-mail:

The truth is that we got almost one year's equivalent of rainwater in two hours. That coupled with the plastic garbage in our canals was what cause the massive flooding which up to now has not completely subsided.

This is a wake-up call. We have to start thinking green. No more plastic bags! No more non-biodegradable stuff. No more deliberate dumping of garbage into esteros and drainage canals. Most of the floods were caused by plastic garbage blocking drainage canals.

Then we must reduce our carbon emissions. Nature is starting to turn on us. Let us not wait for a larger catastrophe before we start doing something.

In those short words, I learned my lesson of the moment...one which I'd already heard, but this was definitely a poignant reminder.

Update: ICCD Video

This is a short video that we produced after the Coastal Cleanup Day event on Saturday.

Cleanup Day in San Jose

Brief report from the San Jose cleanup event that we participated in:

• We had a total of 32 volunteers for this year's event, a blend of students, teachers, parents, and family members. Given that I started promoting this a little on the late side, I'm really happy with the turnout.
• Our group primarily helped to support the Penetencia Creek area cleanup. The creek is adjacent to a local park and runs along the side of a residential street with moderate traffic. Part of our group split off to support the nearby Alum Rock cleanup efforts.
• We were able to contribute significantly to the efforts and collected close to a dozen filled bags of trash, along with numerous other items which couldn't fit in our bags, but definitely didn't belong in the creek. Top 'weird' finds included a freestanding basketball hoop, a broken weight bench, 2 rusty 20-foot pipes, and a fence post.
• Most popular comment overheard from students: "When is the next one? I want to help."

I'm working on a slideshow/video also. Should have that up soon.

All Frosting, No Cupcake

Guilty confession: as a child, I used to sneak spoonfuls of frosting right out of the container and eat it. Doing this gave me a sugar rush like no other, and it was always soooooo much sweeter than just eating the cake. In fact, I used to just lick the frosting off of my cupcakes and then leave them there, much to my family's disgust....since I'd usually wipe out the tray and leave them with a bunch of freshly-licked cupcakes.

In the 21st century, we live in a specialized world where we can have whatever we want, exactly how we want it. In fact, if you really like the frosting that much, you can walk down to the store, buy your own can, and have at it until your pants don't fit right and your head hurts. You're entitled to it, if that's what you really want.

We often attract students who want something specific about our program and aren't necessarily interested in the whole thing. I'm finding this as I'm working with some members of my student team. Some just liked the workout, but aren't fired up about the community service. I'm searching for the right combination of words and actions that can show them the benefits of eating the whole cupcake - not just licking off the frosting.

I think that it's easy for people to cherry-pick the things that they like most about the UBBT process, or any of their other endeavors, and set aside the rest. This even applies to us. It's easy to handle the part that appeals to us first - to lick off the frosting, if you will. In my case, exercising the discipline to eat well is a part of my challenge. Look at the metaphors I'm using...can you tell what's on my mind? (ha!)

If I'm going to be successful, I need to focus on the total package and eat the whole metaphorical cupcake.

(No actual frosting or cupcakes were ingested during the brainstorming, drafting, or publishing of this post.)

Reaching Out

Today, I clicked a couple of links and I was instantly connected to KJN Tom Callos on Twitter and on his new Ning site. This adds to the numerous other ways that we're linked on the digital plane: Facebook, this site, LinkedIn, YouTube, online forums, and the usual e-mails. Add the video conferencing (I'm overdue to reach out) and phone chats and I've noticed that I have so many ways to stay in touch with what he's doing. After looking at his example, I wonder if my students consider me to be just as accessible, or if they feel that I reach out to them in their lives.

Am I using my own social media and other communication tools to the best of my ability? I don't feel like I am yet, but I'm beginning to learn. I've begun using e-mail to reach out to my students with valuable lessons and heartwarming content. I have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, but I could stand to grow in these areas. I definitely could stand to become more media savvy and learn how to edit videos and photo slideshows.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm overcomplicating things by being online in so many places, but I know that's not the point. The main lesson for me to take away is to reach out to the places where my students (and my future students) are, and build those relationships outside of the walls of my school.

I suppose I can call it a marketing strategy, part of the evolution of my professional life. I think of it as connecting with people, but in our line of work, aren't these two things the same?

3,017 Pushup Tribute Completed

Today is the 8th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I still go through the mental exercise because I'm a schoolteacher, so while many in the world might be content to put the memory aside and move on, I always make sure to remember and pass it along.

I try to do it in a way that's productive, though. Fostering anger and hatred in the next generation isn't exactly helpful for anyone.

This event is one of many in our recent history that has pointed out the need for world change. Going the way that we're going has produced some progress, but there's still a lot of unresolved tensions out there. We cannot simply sweep them under the rug and say, "Well, that's the past. This is now. Let's start over." There's too much there to ignore.

Instead, it's time to reach out to others. It's time that kindness became action and not merely attitude. It's time to push others up instead of down.

Therefore, in the spirit of this, I did 1 pushup for all 3,017 people whose lives ended in the attacks. I suppose it could be seen as a selfish act - it doesn't directly help them or their families, and it didn't bridge the divides between people.

All I did was to recognize an injustice of the past, pay my respects to the fallen, reaffirm my commitment to do something positive, and then found my own way to symbolize that commitment in the form of some kind of personal action.

So yeah, perhaps today's act was for me. Tomorrow's is for everyone else.

Tales of a Chronic Insomniac

I don't sleep much. I stay up extremely late and wake up very early. Sometimes this is a function of my lower back waking me up, but more often, I just wake up before my alarm clock and snap into action. When my back wakes me, I suffer some of the symptoms of mild sleep deprivation; however, when I wake on my own, I'm as chipper as can be.

I consider this an advantage.

I've always been a night owl, but it used to come at a heavy price. Now things are different.

I end up having an additional 2-4 hours of productive time each day, and I use this to my benefit, mainly by handling business at work, but also by taking extra time to relax at home, or allowing myself to hit the gym for 1.5-2 hours instead of 30-60 minutes.

This 'gift' is not an innate ability, nor did it come to me suddenly. It's one of the more curious metabolic perks that I've picked up through my studies in the healing arts. After my first few months of training, I began to notice how much more easily I could wake up and fall asleep. It became a focus of my meditation and practice. After years of practice, it's almost second nature for me to control my sleep cycles.

Weird, huh? I'll take it though. :)