Living Room Revisited

BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS OF THE LIVING ROOM.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I wanted the living room to be a place of comfortable gathering.  

So, to encourage visiting, I made the couches face each other. 

The kitties have grown to love having the love seat beneath the great picture window. 

(If I move it, they will kill me)

My apologies for the grainy photos.  My camera came out of my purse covered in hair gel and I'm surprised it's even working well enough to take pictures at all!  

Going to Guatemala

In three days I will be in Guatemala with a professor and a small group of students.  We will travel the country for two weeks with our teacher as our guide.  The purpose of the trip is to experience a part of our world that I have not yet seen, and to learn something about human nature and our connection to the geography and the past.

My intention is to learn all I can in two weeks about one of our neighbors in Central America. After all, the United States and Guatemala have a long and confused history. (Do you like bananas?) I have read about Guatemala, I have seen pictures of the country and her people.  I know about poverty and warfare and colonialism as I have learned from books written by English-speaking journalists and field workers.

In just two weeks, I will observe the outcomes of pre-Columbian and colonial decisions.  I will see how people have lived after their Independence and subsequent neo-colonialism imposed by dictatorships (sponsored by the corporate us).  I wonder how they will perceive me: an overweight American woman with a camera, butchering Spanish while buying up as many hand-embroidered textiles as will fit in my bag.

This will be a great opportunity to practice my Spanish skills.  In a classroom setting, we are tested on our reading and writing abilities.  I have put little effort in hearing and speaking the language, and I expect these two weeks in Guatemala will test these skills and allow me to hear the dialects of a mostly indigenous people who speak Spanish, like I do, as their 2nd language.  I suspect the only difference between us is that my people are the imperialists and their people are the imperialized.

How much can I learn about a country in two weeks?  As much as I can!

Hot Shower Haiku

Hot shower today.
Taken for granted by me,
An American;

Citizen of the
Richest land on Earth, they say.
One day I will know.

The Future of Your Community Lies In Your Hands

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 Women's Leadership Symposium at UCCS where Frances Hesselbein was the keynote speaker.  She has authored 20 books, and spends a good portion of her time speaking at military bases and universities.  She was the Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 1976 to 1990, and is responsible for turning the organization into one of diversity and inclusiveness.

There were over 200 in attendance, including 6 panelists from varying walks of life who addressed questions about women in leadership and talked about their personal commitments to supporting other women leaders.

I arrived unsure of what I might learn, yet I came away from the meeting refreshed with a belief that my dreams are worthy and attainable.  I spoke with and listened to a number of women about leadership opportunities and the progress women have made over the past few generations.  I came away with a revived opinion of who I am and who I want to be.

"Be aware of your thoughts, for they become your words.  Be aware of your words, for they become your actions.  Be aware of your actions, for they become your habits.  Be aware of your habits, for they become your destiny."  This was how Mrs. Hesselbein opened her speech.  She spoke to us about how her choices have made a difference in the lives of other people, and how we too can make a difference in our communities.

Lessons I took from the meeting include:

• We learn and develop by working with other people, therefore we should include people from all backgrounds into our networks, and grow our garden of friends for the benefit of all included.
• The children are our future, and we should give them all of the tools that we can to help them become sociable adults.  
• Ask questions about the status quo, and have the courage to challenge it and change it for the good of everyone involved.  We can make a difference!
• Find a woman to be your mentor, and in return, mentor another woman or a girl.  It is by teaching and learning from one another that we strengthen our goals and one another.  
• Women can be most cruel to other women, and this is our greatest setback.  We should respect the choices of other women, even if they are different from our own.
• Although many younger women (including myself) have misunderstood the feminist philosophy to mean that we can have it all (family and career), we need to have the courage to make a choice and stand by it.
• Women have a tendency to internalize their feelings.  Self-mutilation and eating disorders are evidence of inner turmoil.  We need to find a way to let the emotions out rather than bottle them inside. Choir, theater, band, sports, running, martial arts, whatever it may be - find it and use it!
• Have the confidence to stand up and do what is right.  Whatever you think, you will become.
• Never stop being a student.  Never stop being a teacher.  
• Mrs. Hesselbein quoted a mentor of hers: "We live in a nation that pretends to care about its children, but it does not."  We must gather the tools to change this, and take better care of our children.  They are our future.