Where I'm Going, I Am Ready

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. ― Søren Kierkegaard
WEEK EIGHT: Express your #soulselfie by exploring your future identity. Over the past seven weeks, #WalkMyWorld invited us to examine our PAST and PRESENT identities through images, words, sounds, gestures, and memories. Learning event eight asks us to shift our focus to the FUTURE: How do you see your future unfolding and how willing are you to take detours along the way?

I used two different mentor texts from poet and storyteller Sekou Andrews to help me capture my future identity: The Awesome Anthem and I Am Ready.

Notice how Sekou uses his past experiences to cultivate a future of inspiration. For my reflection, I remixed the phrase, "a little extra cup," from the The Awesome Anthem and "I am ready," from I Am Ready. Check out my #soulselfie:


To My Future, I AM READY
by Julie B. Wise

I will cultivate a passion for a literate society.
Where people are curious about each other and seek to understand.
I AM READY to give back a little extra cup of service...
To educators who empower.
To parents who encourage.
To students who engage.

I will research the needs of that literate society.
Where people are divergent and desire fresh solutions.
I AM READY to give back a little extra cup of inspiration...
To those who learn differently.
To those who read uniquely.
To those who write rarely.

To my future, I AM READY!  

Invitation: ASK: Where will you be in 5 years? Where will you be in 10 years? CAPTURE the opportunities surrounding you and how you plan to interact and connect with your future identity. DESCRIBE your future identity through any mode (i.e., text, image, audio, video) and medium (i.e., digital, online, paper, radio). SHARE your #soulselfie on Twitter using the hashtag #WalkMyWorld and #LE8. It’s time. What will you share? Explore.Play.Create.Learn.

Interested in learning more about #WalkMyWorld, visit: walkmy.world

  

Hear My Home: Sharing Sounds that Signify Home

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. – Ansel Adams
 

The silent sounds of my home surround me throughout the day, with my dog's rhythmic breathing in the background.

WEEK SEVEN: Recognize and share the soul, spirit, and sounds of your home. #WalkMyWorld's learning event seven challenges you to dig deeper into the sounds that make your living space feel like HOME. This week I used a mentor poem, I Am The Book by Tom Robert Shields to help me recognize the daily sounds that fill my home throughout the week. READ my poem, pausing after each stanza, to notice the meaning your mind makes. Does your mind create a mental image? Does your mind change the words into sounds? At the end of the poem I list the specific sounds I was attempting to describe.

I AM THE SOUNDS 
by Julie B. Wise

I'll be your guide,
Proving a wake-up call,
Early arrival,
Setting up for success,
On a crisp Monday morning.

I'll motivate you,
To dream possibilities,
Moving forward,
With an open mind,
On a Tuesday afternoon.

I'll entertain you,
Making you burst with laughter,
Overflowing tears,
Exploring with curiosity,
On a Wednesday at dusk.

I'll relax you,
With consistent white noise,
Abrupt rolling breaths,
Stilling dark silence,
On a Thursday evening.

I'll humble you,
With sharp, quick barks,
Nudging and whining,
Hungry for the day to start,
On a Friday at dawn.

I am the sounds
that make this house a HOME. 

Specific Sounds described in the poem above:
I'll be your guide - cell phone alarm named, "By the seaside"
I'll motivate you -  music (Indigo Girls) and podcasts (Tim Ferriss and Lewis Howes)
I'll entertain you -  daughters' practice (soccer, basketball, dance, voice, and acting lessons)
I'll relax you -  sound machine (white noise), snoring (husband)
I'll humble you -  dog waking me up before my cell phone alarm

SOUNDSNAP: Too many times, sounds are in the background or repeated so often that we begin to ignore them. During your writing class this week, ask students to walk around their house and write down the places and types of sounds they hear. Ask students to share their discoveries and begin to look for similarities and differences of sounds that fill their homes. If students are interested, suggest they write a sound poem, using mine as a mentor example. I started using www.Soundsnap.com as a way to help students think deeper about the sounds that surround a setting. If we are writing about the beach, I use the search feature for "beach sounds." This week, you may want to use the 1001 "Home Sounds."

Invitation: ASK yourself: What sounds signify that you are home? DESCRIBE the place, space, time, and tempo of these sounds. WRITE a poem or CAPTURE these soundscapes using Soundcloud as a means to record and share out this audio content. SHARE your creation on Twitter using the hashtag #WalkMyWorld, #LE7, and #HearMyHome. It’s time. What will you share? Explore.Play.Create.Learn.

 

Interested in learning more about #WalkMyWorld, visit: walkmy.world