When was the last time you put your whole heart into something and delivered more than anyone expected of you?

What was it?

Why did you work so hard?

The time? Now. The project? BulgingButtons, the blog. Let me be plain, nobody expected anything of me with this blog. I didn’t begin it as an assignment or challenge. Nobody told me I really ought to have a blog, or that they would read it if I did. In other words, there were absolutely no expectations at all. This fact made delivering more than expected a given. That being said, this blog still delivers in a pretty big way. It has a few things going for it that might not have been expected, especially by someone who knows me well.

First, I’ve been contributing to it regularly. I didn’t start it, create two or three posts, and then forget about it. I’ve been writing new content each week, and sometimes each day. This level of commitment to something that isn’t required of me is pretty impressive. Let’s face it, I’m a busy person and at the end of the day I like to chill out with the family on the couch like anyone else. Something about blogging has gotten under my skin, though, and I’m really motivated to keep writing and sharing new thoughts.

Secondly, my main topic of getting healthier has been a constant for the three months I’ve been blogging. This is also impressive, considering my past track record. Granted I haven’t made huge strides on the scale, but I’ve been doing some good things for myself, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I think the accountability of making my activities public has helped me to keep that trend going.

Finally, the majority of the posts I’ve written contain a bit more than simple journaling or self-serving baloney. They allow you, the reader, to get inside my head, and rattle around in there with me for a bit. I’m not embarrassed when I read back posts I’ve written. The voice I’m sharing with you is authentic, whether it’s hopeful, frustrated, or humorous. Whatever tone a particular piece takes, it comes from my heart as much as my head.

I’m not positive why this blogging thing has clicked with me so strongly. It may be that it gives me a voice that for so many years was quiet. Oh, it was always there, but I often suppressed it. I’m not one to have a huge circle of friends, although I enjoy other people very much. I’ve always had a few people very close to my heart, and they were the ones who saw my true colors. Now anyone who happens to click on bulging buttons.wordpress.com gets to come along for the ride too.

September 18, 2013
by BulgingButtons Leave a comment

Daily Passion Prompt 14: A Tale of Talent

TODAY’S QUESTION

What are you naturally talented at doing?

Talent. We’re obsessed with it. We watch television shows like America’s Got Talent, The X Factor, and The Voice. American Idol has been a huge hit for years, and it’s companion shows have loyal followers around the globe, I’m sure. I’m pretty sure we’re so fixated on talent because so many of us feel like we don’t have any. I beg to differ. I think we all have talent, but some of us simply haven’t discovered ours yet.

I have a few talents that I have been developing over time. I have a knack for combining colors and patterns, which helps me create dynamic quilts and eye pleasing scrapbook layouts. I bake fabulous brownies (with or without nuts), and I’m a good driver. I generally have a good eye for editing (I’ll be mortified if I miss something here), and I usually write fairly well. All of these things are great, but they aren’t my real talent.

The true talent I own is that of a natural born teacher. Yes, it is my profession, and I have been trained in the field. I hold an advanced degree (whippty-doo for me) and I have read numerous articles, texts, and manuals over the years. I have received trainings, attended seminars, and taken classes. I spend hours online researching methods and teaching ideas to help my students understand and practice new concepts, and to help inspire them to love learning. There isn’t a teacher I know who can’t say the same. Some people, however, are naturally born teachers. I fall into this category.

These NBT’s (Natural Born Teachers-we love using letters for things) began their careers with a group of stuffed animals and dolls. Younger siblings and neighbor kids were fair game, too, as they cut their teeth. The typical NBT spends several years in the babysitting trenches, followed by experiences at camps/pools/community centers/daycares/etc. They are the ones who check out volumes of dinosaur, ballet, or Harry Potter books from the library when their young niece or nephew is due to visit. They may fight it, but eventually they realize they were made to teach. They have been doing it all along.

I’m one of those. I can turn almost anything into a lesson, and most of the time I can do it in a way that makes sense to students, whether they are seven-year-olds learning to tell time. or seventy-seven year olds learning a new quilting technique. At school I often extend lessons in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. Sometimes it’s a matter of asking the right question at the right time. Other times. it’s allowing students to struggle with a new concept in order to develop their understanding and problem solving skills. I use a lot of story telling and analogies as I teach. I find that making connections to the familiar is very helpful for anyone with is learning something new.

I may not be able to carry a tune, dance a foxtrot, or play anything other than the right hard part of The Entertainer on the piano, but I’ve got talent. The kind of talent I have helps to improve lives. You can keep your trophies and monetary awards (or still give them to me, that’s okay too). I can rest at night knowing that my fourth graders can explain relationships between different mathematical operations, and they can find evidence of a character’s motivation in a play. They can discuss the similarities and differences of wind and water erosion and they can determine whether certain resources are renewable or nonrenewable. They can walk into one of their multitude of tests with their heads held high, and show their stuff. I feel good taking at least a little credit for that, after all, I’m their teacher.

September 15, 2013
by BulgingButtons 5 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 10: World’s Best

TODAY’S QUESTION

What do you think you could be amongst the BEST in the world at doing?

This is a horribly difficult question. I keep thinking of things that I think I’m good at, but then I start to extend that thinking into the realm of best, and I shut down. I mean come on, I make great brownies, but amongst the best in the world? That’s a stretch.

I’m a good mother, and probably the perfect mother for my own particular kid, but am I amongst the world’s best? Only on a Hallmark card, I’m afraid. There are times that I allow him to do things that maybe I shouldn’t. There are times when I should be giving him more guidance than I do. There are times when I lose my cool with him. But really, he’s fifteen. Nobody’s perfect, right? Even the world’s best mothers lose it sometimes.

In terms of my other close relationships, I doubt that I rank amongst the world’s best at any of them. As a daughter, fiancée, sister, and friend, I’m sure I have plenty to be desired. I’m the one that forgets to send the birthday card. I’m the one who didn’t remember that you were having that procedure done today. I’m the one who should have called you yesterday. It’s not that I don’t care. I do. It’s just that I haven’t quite mastered putting reminders into my phone.

How about teaching? Could I be amongst the world’s best at that? Not according to the current standards of evaluation that are in place, at least in most American public schools. Within the constricts that teachers have, and with the amount of national testing that is done, I don’t believe that the way I teach my students will ever rank at the top of the ladder, not even in my own state, let alone the entire world. Honestly, I’m okay with that. I believe in what I do with my students, but I always see areas for improvement too. I’m not in it for awards or recognition, I’m in it to educate.

Well then, how about my hobbies? Quilting and scrapbooking are both creative outlets that I enjoy, but amongst the best? Not my quilting, that’s for sure. My seams don’t always meet quite the way they’re supposed to and my attempts at machine quilting, while they are improving, have a long way to go. My scrapbooking, while it has a crisp clean style that I like, has been on the back burner for so long that I hardly consider myself a scrapbooker any more.

So that leaves the written word. Could I hone my craft to the point where I’m a serious writer? Could I practice and improve to the point where my material is not only high enough quality for publication, but of enough interest to actually make it into the hands of readers? There is a part of me that thinks I can. Again, that “world’s best” is causing me some problems, but if I tone that down a bit, I see some potential. I read. I have read many books that have left me cold and thought to myself that I could do better. The difference, however, between those authors and me is that they finished their books and got them not only published, but sold. If they could do it, certainly I can too.