The things you are passionate about are not random. They are your calling.
Once upon a time…
There was a girl. She loved to play. She loved stuffed animals. Pretty good stuff. Playing was her passion.
She would wake up in the morning, find her favorite stuffed animal and get to work playing.
But one day she grew up. She started to live in a world of “musts”… She must get her work done and she must meet all of her responsibilities. Playing taking took a backseat to the “musts” of life.
She went on fabulous adventures. High school was quite a ride of “musts.” Then came college and that allowed her to open up those butterfly wings and try out even greater independence and more serious “musts.”
She pledged a sorority. She learned not to take all 8:00am classes. She tried to find that play and squeeze into her very busy college schedule of “musts.”
But….. even through all of those “musts”…and the freedom of college and sorority life back in the day…
It seemed like she lost that time to play. I mean… who plays as an adult?
But finally she found how she could play… more or less. She found her passion (otherwise known as “play”) smack dab in the middle of those college “musts.” And it had been there all along. Sometimes our playtime (otherwise known as our “passion”) is right in front of us… we just have to open our eyes to it.
Teaching.
Besides my love of blogging, my passion is teaching. It’s my playing. It’s opening the eyes of students to see the play in their learning. It’s helping them fail and be OK with it. It’s helping them pause to listen to life… to not Google an answer immediately…and be excited to say YES to new adventures and to take a risk to start to find THEIR play (otherwise known as “passion”.)
But teaching is hard work. And doesn’t always feel like play time. But it kinda is. It’s my passion… it’s playing… and it’s what I do. It’s what I’ve always loved to do all the way back to when I was a little girl with my stuffed animals.
(photo: Downie Photography)
Where were you when I went to school? Ugh, I really wish more teachers would play. I mean I want my future kids to learn but it is like now they teach so black and white that no one learns anything anymore. I love this.
Thanks so much for your comment! Made me smile! 🙂
such a great post! i was curious where exactly you were going with this but it makes total sense. playing is similar to teaching! nice job!!
Thanks so much! haha… I finally found my “play” (passion) in my career! 🙂
Yeah, definitely!! Nothing wrong with being a passionate teacher. Those are the best out there!
I love this! I did Teach for America and I am inspired by the passion you have for teaching… It is SUCH a hard job – but so rewarding!
Awesome!! Thanks for your cool comment! 🙂
Such a wonderful message, I love that you are inspiring the kids who learn in a non traditional way .. learning that it is okay to fail and to listen oh my gosh we all need to learn that and you are teaching that to kids ! … congratulations for making a difference !
THANKS so much for your super kind words! 🙂
Awesome! I love how fun it looks like you are in your classroom! I know how important it is to have good teachers, to nurture the love of learning in our kids. I have 2 children 8 and 3 and they love love to learn. Thanks so much for all you do!
Thanks! It’s just how I play… aka my passion! 🙂
Hi Karen! Love it! Such an awesome post. Teaching is such a gift, and its great that you are so passionate about it. The world needs more teachers like you 🙂
~Christina
Aw…thanks so much!! 🙂