Cherie's Random Thoughts

Question:  What smell do you love smelling the most?  Probably the scent of a man. His natural scent that is not masked by other things. Our scents often are our personal signature of who we are. I love my sweetie's scent and it often provides me with a very calming effect.  Other favorite scents: chocolate, red wine, cinnamon, and the ocean. 

Question:  How do you recover from an illness? As quick as possible. Over my lifetime I have rarely gotten an illness that has made me incapacitated but on the few occasions that I have been I tried to make it short lived. My mother trained me well in not letting yourself succumb to the shackles that illness can give you. Plus, it takes too much energy to stay sick. 

Question:  What inspires you to keep going when it's hard? This is a great question. There are several things that inspire me to rise to the occasion and tackle the difficult. One is my mother's legacy. My mother died in 2007 at the age of 57 and throughout her life she kept going despite having to deal with physical and mental illnesses. Her strength taught me you can and will get through it and that the only thing that will stop you is death in the end.  Other sources of inspirations are the human beings who have the ability to show a tremendous amount of gratitude and always seem to handle the hardness of life head on. They do so rarely accepting victimhood and take charge of their life. Lastly, I am inspired to keep going because my students are WATCHING! If I don't how can I expect them to do the same and be able to teach the children they work with to learn to keep going through the frustrations of life.

Question:  What is your favorite physical trait?  I would have to say a person's eyes, they never lie. Our eyes have the ability to tell the story of our soul. The let others know when we are happy and when something wrong. They forever speak an authentic language even if we are trying to hide how we truly feel. If you want to know someone, look them in their eyes often. 

Question:  What sounds can you hear right now?  Music of COURSE! The love of music has been a running theme throughout my life. I have fond memories from childhood of being exposed to the music of Elvis Presley via my sitter, Ms. Florence in San Jose, California. As a child I was exposed to just about every type of music and to this day I listen to all types of music. I truly do not discriminate.  For me, a day without music is a day that has not been lived. At Manor College, I play music all day long, even as my students enter the classroom. Music not only is a stress reliever but it inspires creativity and greatness. Here is my current favorite tune: 

Questions:  How do you like to spend your spare time? On most days I like to spend my spare time alone and doing my favorite activities: listening to music, reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching my favorite films. As educator, I spend most days of the week connected to another human being. Whether it is when I am teaching, advising, talking with students, or simply giving them advice. When I am not doing that I am preparing for class and/or working on administrative tasks. This often leads to a fatigue that actually does not always lead to good rest. My favorite activities allow me to relieve the stress fatigue for teaching.  In addition, because I have become accustomed to living alone, I actually love my alone time. It is my "Zen Time". Each morning and evening I often end my day with Zen time. 

Question:  What do you enjoy about your career? My chosen career is teaching. Since making the commitment to this in 1991 when I entered into Kutztown University, I have taught pre-kindergarten children, special needs children, teachers in the field, and now students at my college. For me, teaching is like "drinking water" meaning I cannot live without it in my life. Teaching allows me to not only impact my community but be a part of a better future for my students and the children and families they work with one day. I spend most days having frequent conversations with my students about teaching practices as well as what is going on the world today. I am often a passive and/or active witness to the bad, good, and best things in their lives. I take my career very serious and routines can be found reading about and/or talking about what is going on in the field of education. 

Question:  What opportunities have changed your life? When I think of which opportunities truly changed my life for the better I think of the following::  Having a sick parent. My mother struggled with bipolar disorder throughout her life as well as the physical illness towards the end of her life. She died young (age 57), and her life taught the importance of caring for others through your ability to compassionate and empathize with what they are going through. Her pain led me to always wanted to connect and care for others. My father is now battling Parkinson's, and I am reminded of the lessons learned during my mother's illnesses.  Moving a lot during childhood. I think this is why I seek change and enjoy change when it comes. It also afforded me the opportunity to meet a lot of people and led me to be able to work and be friends with a diverse group of people.  Always going to good schools and living in good neighborhoods throughout my life. I simply woul...

Question:  What have you learned from unpleasant emotions?  They are necessary. Today was one of those days where good emotions of joy and happiness were replaced with the unpleasant emotions of anger, disgust, and frustration after an incident that stirred up a fear that I knew would happen one day. Once the unpleasant emotions arrived my pain in my arm increased and the tears began to flow.  Basically unpleasant emotions remind us that we are human and signal us to pay attention to something that we have either been ignoring or has been bothering us for a long time. The question is what you do with those emotions. It is best to work through them in a constructive manner and remember that just like most things in life, their immediate disruption of your pleasant emotions is temporary. 

The question of the Day: Do you enjoy traveling to new places? YES, I DO! Since I have moved over nine times before the age 18 (five states) and six times between the age of 18 and 42, I have grown to love traveling to new places. Since meeting my Sweetie in 2004, I have learned how beautiful this country truly is and have seen a few great places. I love traveling to new places for several reasons:  You get to meet new people  The food of course Seeing wildlife not native to your area  And it gives you an opportunity to see historical places.  Some of my favorite places include the following:  Santa Cruz, CA (Beach and Mountains)  Dallas, Texas  San Francisco, CA  Monterey, CA  Toronto, Canada  The Space Museum in Huntsville, AL  Birmingham, AL  Las Vegas (including Henderson, the Hoover Dam, and Mt. Charleston)  Omaha, NE including their Zoo  Washington State: Including Mt. Saint...

Today's question is " Who was the last person you hugged?"  Answer: A student. I must say I probably hug and/or am hugged by someone at least every two weeks.  When I am hugged by someone or hug someone I am reminded about the "power of a hug". It lets us know that we are seen by others or care for by others. It is the one of the top three gifts that you can give another person, in addition to the following: a smile and your time.  Just Saturday, during my last Girl Scouts meeting of the year I was hugged by several of the girls, upon arrival and departure. It reminds me that they look forward to our meetings and that the service that we provide for these girls is one that is needed.  So now I ask you? When is the last time you hugged someone? 

Here is the question for Day 6 (December 6):  What color makes you feel happiest? In this order:  Pink  Red  Orange  Blue  Green  My top three are very reflective of my personality. I am a PASSIONATE human being. On most days, I utilize all of my senses to interact with the world. In addition, they are reflective of my need to have color in my life.  As for the entire five, I wear them all every week of my life and pink is must for me on most days. 

Here is the question for Day 5 (Behind a Bit):  What kind of artwork makes you happy?  Paintings of course! Since I began painting in 2008 I have truly fell in love with the art of painting. I have always loved visiting museums and artists who have found away to express themselves through paint. I am a particular fan on using oils and acrylics and love to paint on canvas. Abstract art and art that depicts things in nature makes me the most happen.  Why abstract? It makes you think!  Why nature? Because nature is something that should be admired daily.  Some of my favorite artists include Pollack, Cezanne, and O'Keefe.  I am also a huge fan of photography. My favorite nature photographer is Thomas Mangelsen:  http://mangelsen.com/index.php/omaha

A little behind. Here is the question for Day 4 (December 4th):  Where is your favorite place to be? There are many places I love to be but here are my top 5:  The Beach- I like my beaches in their almost natural state! Favorite one on the east coast: Jenson Beach, Florida.  The Zoo-I love animal watching. Although it would be much better to watch most of the animals in the wild, this is not always possible. Favorite Zoos: Philadelphia, North Carolina, Omaha Zoo, and many more.  Within the trees. Love talking walks where there are lots of trees.  The Tub: It's my office and I love to soak!  A bookstore and/or library. A a books lover and love to read several times a day. 

The news we chose to expose ourselves in the morning can temporarily and hopefully not permanently put us in the an early grave. Not due to a physical death, but a death of the spirit and certainly the hijacking of a life. Lately, the news has been nothing but good. Shootings, racism, terrorism, and plain old fear mongering has led to many of us waking up with a HEADACHE! Long ago I learned that how you begin your day, set not only the tone of the rest of the day but can certainly prevent you from having a productive week. The article, " Breaking News: How Morning News Affects Our Wellbeing " is a great reminder of how the news we what in the morning is making us sick. For this reason for several months, I have tried to not begin my day with news but with music or reading.

Here is today's question: Who would you be unable to live without?  This question cannot be answer in terms of whom. It is not realistic! In life, we will have face the hard fact that those who we love deeply will leave us. Whether we do first, or they do. Death is the vehicle and it can come early or when it is suppose to.  There are a few things that we cannot live without yet we do not always protect: That is plant life including the great giants: Trees. They are ultimately our lifeline. Without them there is not only no oxygen on our plant, essential foods would be non-existent.  The other is water. Our bodies are primarly made up of water and without it we cease to be. 

Today's question is:  How does it feel to wake up every single day? Waking up for me is wonderful. Why you ask? Many reasons: 1) It's a blessing. Although I woke up, someone didn't and passed during the night. 2) It's a gift, an opportunity for new experiences if you allow it. 3) It's my ZEN TIME! Very few people are up when I usually wake up. I use the time for music, reading, reflection, and learning. 4) Lastly, it's my favorite time for eating! I love breakfast!

From December 1st through 25th, I have decided to write about gratitude topics using prompts from  http://www.positivelypresent.com/2015/11/75-gratitude-prompts.html Here is my answer to Question 11:  Which animals have positively impacted your life? Throughout my life, I have always loved animals. From a young child, my parents exposed me to pets. Our first pet was a small dog. Although I was too young to remember him, I do remember the countless animals that have impacted my life (birds, small rodents, fish, dogs, and cats). I believe two species from the animal kingdom have had the greatest impact on my life: birds and cats. As a morning person, I have always enjoyed being awoken by birdsong and the playful nature of birds in the morning. For me birds signify freedom. They are fearless and provide extended life for humans with the beauty and their ability to keep things in balance, such as taking care of things that die. I love all types of birds including vultures. ...