Monday, August 29, 2011

Afraid I'm going to flake out

This past spring I started reading The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. She advocates writing "morning pages" and sometime last June, while writing about wanting to get into better shape, I came up with the idea that I should walk to school for a year. (Starting next fall, of course.) It wasn't long into this stream-of-consciousness morning rambling that the walking had a theme: as I walked to school, I would meditate on the treaties. You see, I live in Treaty 4 territory (as many do in Southern Saskatchewan), and because of where I live (past Fort Qu'Appelle's ski hill), if I was walking to school, I'd walk right past the largest inhabited teepee (so I've heard it called); the Treaty 4 Governance Centre; and the Treaty 4 grounds. So here's the confession, that might answer the question, "Why would a teacher need to 'meditate on the treaties'?" I've lived in Treaty 4 territory most of my life, (except for five years living in Black Lake,Treaty 8, and one year in Calgary... treaty ???), AND as a Saskatchewan teacher, I am expected to bring "treaty teachings" into my classroom; HOWEVER, I "know" very little about treaties. So, it's 11:34 pm, the day before the first day of school, a professional development day. I've gathered pencil crayons, air freshner, a new toothbrush, an internship guide, and my purse into my back pack; I've put my runners by the door; I've half decided what I'll wear; I've made a plan with my youngest daughter because she wants to ride her bike with me; I've made a back up plan if she won't wake up when I call her; I haven't checked the weather. Now, all that's left to do is get ready for bed, sleep, and then wake up in time to not flake out on this plan THE VERY FIRST MORNING.

2 comments:

  1. Looking forward to reading. And I love that you packed your backpack the night before school. Like the kids!

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  2. You did it! Happy as always to have a Sheena spotting as you went down the road. Also happy you started this. Looking forward to this journey with you.

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