When looking at why I did this summer, it goes beyond personal enrichment, which indeed it has been. It even goes beyond how I am always striving to be a better teacher. It is mostly about my desire to keep connecting to the community that embracing me and my practice. Over 13 years, I have had the opportunity to try new ideas and stretch the boundaries of the students imagination because of parents who want the best for their children and who act as my partners to create a climate of caring through the arts.
These past two weeks have stretched me in a myriad of different ways, which has been challenging and painful (psychically) at times, but there are some people who have my back and that actually has made me realize that I count. There are ways of sneaking through any experience, but for me it has been about jumping fully. Many of the risks I took weren't completely accepted or celebrated, which I have brushed off for the most part. It is important for me to have felt a bit of pain, so that I can embody the kind of grace that never uses my power to undercut anyone's voice.
I am ever grateful to the great women who participated as well as Ellen and Aileen who nurtured each of us in a great expansive way that I would like to pay forward to others.