Road Trip

This morning was gorgeous; I took a walk around 7:30 this morning and had a cool breeze, birds, and sunshine to keep me company. The walk was restoring in several ways. I cleared my mind from the busy thoughts of packing and cleaning that were taking up my room in my head starting very early in the morning.

My daughter and I are on a road trip as I am typing this message. We will be visiting 5 states in 5 days to see friends and relation in the Midwest. I love road trips! They do not come with the same stresses that travel by plane has these day. I like being able to through in an extra pair of shoes and my nail clippers without worrying if I put them in the wrong bag. I also like seeing these great states of ours at ground level. As the typography changes I appreciate the gifts that each state has to offer. The changes come to me more slowly and are easier to take in on a car trip.

Thought for the day:

Don’t Worry—Be Happy??? That sound simple and good, but, do you notice like I do that people who manage to not ‘worry’ about things also tend to be the ones that do not care deeply about thing either.

Someone told me the other day that I ‘worry’ too much. It got me thinking—how did he presume to know if I was worried or just voicing well placed concern about the topic. What the topic was is not important, but, I feel there is a lesson to learn here. I think we would all be happier if we listened to each other more and assign judgments or meaning to the words less. Try to really listen to each other and not assume we know what the other person, “quote”, “unquote”, means. If we took each other at face value and did not try to ‘infer’ meaning we would have much better communication. This is one of those, take it or leave it moments—think about it before you decide if you agree—then I will ‘take you at your word’ and not ‘infer’ that you do not really understand you or me would agree!

Montessori:

Last night I was asked a very familiar question—“What is Montessori—is it just for daycares and preschool?"

I love it when I get to answer that question! I should tell you the setting, I was in the middle of my Tuesday evening quilting class. A fellow quilter who is the mother of 3 young children asked the question. My answer began this way; I told her that here in Omaha we have Montessori education up through middle school in both public and private settings. I continued to tell her that I knew of high schools in several states that offered Montessori education. Then came favorite part—the opportunity to help someone that is interested understand the richness that is Montessori. I said, Montessori is a philosophy, you could set up a sewing room in your home using the principles of Montessori.” Well, that really got a good conversation started. I briefly explained that Maria Montessori studied science, became a doctor and observed children to develop what we call the Montessori Philosophy. We can apply her principles of order, control and a prepared environment to anything we care to do. Another student, a much younger woman, said she was familiar with other programs that use order and carful preparation in areas such as healthcare to increase efficiency, productivity and accuracy in the workplace.

I smiled a lot during the remainder of that sewing class because I felt connected to those women just a little more that when the class began. When we see commonality within our differences, we get closer to one another, instead of farther apart—that was a very worthwhile experience for me, and I hope, for my fellow quilters.