Writing is my artistic expression. My keyboard is my brush. Words are my medium. My blog is my canvas. And committing to writing daily makes me feel like an artist.
“I tried over a decade ago, now I’m going to do it – a short daily blog.
It’s time…”
I don’t think I’ve missed a day since. It hasn’t always been easy. I sometimes don’t think I have anything worth sharing. But sometimes I write something that just feels right. Other times I just jot down a simple thought and it ends up getting more engagement from readers than I’d ever expect. I know I only have a handful of daily readers, but I have quite a few weekly readers that check out a post or two when it lands in their Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook feed.
I am thankful to have people read my writing, but I feel that I do my best writing when I forget my audience. I readily admit that I enjoy getting ‘likes’ and comments, and yet sometimes the simple act of hitting the ‘Publish’ button is all the reward I need.
My blog tag line now reads, “Writing is my artistic expression. My keyboard is my brush. Words are my medium. My blog is my canvas. And committing to writing daily makes me feel like an artist.”
As I state in thepost where I originally wrote this, “The act of writing makes me a better writer. The commitment to this act every single day is itself a reward, making me feel like I’ve accomplished something before I even start my work day.”
Two years of public daily writing is a commitment that I wasn’t sure I could accomplish, and now I wonder how long I will keep going for? For right now, I feel that I have far more reasons to continue than to stop. So this blog will be continued every day until….
At Inquiry Hub students learn the difference between a working portfolio and a presentation portfolio. They don’t get electives in the same way a student in a large high school gets theirs. Instead of a Grade 9 looking at a large catalogue of courses to choose from, students get a couple ‘mandatory electives’… yet they end up with more choice and variety than students in big schools with many elective choices. This is possible because one of the mandatory courses is Foundations of Inquiry, where students get to choose their own topics.
In Foundations of Inquiry, students create a working portfolio. Using OneNote, they share their documentation of work and progress with their teacher. They will include photographs, videos, and journaling, as well as reflections, progress reports, and copies of presentations done as part of the process. These notes are not public, beyond teacher access. In a way, these portfolios are the rough draft of what’s being done.
We also encourage students to publicly share their work. This can include on a blog or website, or a presentation beyond the classroom. It can include contacting mentors and experts and sharing what they have done. And it can include creating videos or doing presentations to family and community at school. These are public opportunities to share their portfolio, and this portfolio is polished and ready for sharing out in the open.
A daily journal like this is sort of a mix between the two kinds of portfolios. Writing every day, I don’t get to share polished work. I have no editors, I am generally sharing my first draft, looked over only by myself, once or twice, before scheduling the post to go live at 7:22am on most mornings… a random time I have selected and stick to on weekdays, when I’m up and writing before 5:30am. Weekends I publish later, and immediately after writing, rather than scheduling.
This is by all means a working portfolio. Some of my ideas are half baked. Some are fleeting thoughts expanded into a handful of sentences. Some are ideas like this where I give a long background before getting to the idea at hand. Some are thoughtful reflections that seem far more thought out than they actually are. And some really aren’t that good, and wouldn’t pass an editor, or even myself if I looked at it two days later.
A journal like my Daily-Ink is a constant work in progress, it is a working portfolio of ideas and thoughts. Yet, it is also very public. When I schedule a post, it automatically goes to RRS feeds, it gets put onto a Facebook page, and it is shared through Twitter and LinkedIn posts. It is put on public display on many fronts for anyone interested to see. It’s a glimpse into my mind, and it shows the rough edges. It is at once a draft and a final copy.
I don’t think many people would be comfortable doing this every day. I have to say that it is a huge commitment, but a rewarding one. Sometimes words flow and I feel an incredible sense of satisfaction. Sometimes I stare at a blank page with no idea what to write, questioning why I do this to myself? But, I wrote this one day and now share it as my blog tag line:
Writing is my artistic expression. My keyboard is my brush. Words are my medium. My blog is my canvas. And committing to writing daily makes me feel like an artist.
As I state in the post, “The act of writing makes me a better writer. The commitment to this act every single day is itself a reward, making me feel like I’ve accomplished something before I even start my work day.”
It’s not perfect, (in fact I found a typo in the quote above that I went back and changed). This is a working portfolio… it just happens to be one that I share publicly.
This is an observation, not me beating myself up. I’ve been on a good healthy living kick and in the best shape I’ve been in years. However today I looked at my healthy living calendar and I had a target weight written on it… I’m not close to it. I haven’t made any gains that I hoped to.
I’ve already realized that I need to reset goals, but now I think I need to just stop making goals beyond my calendar chart. That chart has been something that keeps me ‘on target’, while other goals leave me disappointed when I don’t meet them. There is a lot going on these days, with the school year ending and a visit home planned, and camping holidays booked… and yet I’m exercising 5-6 timed a week; I’m shooting arrows regularly; I’m enjoying writing every day; and I’ve only missed a couple meditations this year. These are mini celebrations that I don’t need to cloud with unmet goals that push me beyond what I’m prepared to do.
I’m getting stronger, I’m looking and feeling good, I’m meeting my targets I’ve places on myself. I don’t need to push, push, push, and add goals that are too much for me… I just needed to say that ‘out loud’ to convince myself.
A few days ago I found a nickel on the ground near the park my wife and I walk. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I then had to change pockets because it was clinking against my phone, making an annoying sound. I realized then that I don’t tend to walk with change in my pocket very often. At home, I put it in my drawer that I keep my keys in, where I also put loose change. I noticed that I didn’t have any change in there and haven’t for a while. I don’t walk around with coins, I don’t pay for things with cash, and I don’t find lost change nearly as much as I used to in the past.
What I do see that I never used to is lost and dropped masks. They litter the floor like abandoned cigarette butts, easily noticed and equally as unappealing. I don’t want to see them, but I also have no desire to touch them in order to throw them away. Because they are much larger than cigarette butts, they are even more noticeable, and they seem to be everywhere.
Yesterday the grounds crew were cutting the grass and weed whacking around the school and one of them brought in a drone that fell out of a tree. He brought it in and said maybe a student had lost it. But the reality is that it probably belonged to someone in the community and I’ll have no way of knowing who it belongs to or how to get it back to them?
20 years ago lost coins and cigarette butts were items lost and dropped by people. Now it’s drones and masks. What will it be in another 20 years?
This video came up as a Facebook memory from 4 years ago.
The process of applying for an award like The Cmolik Prize for the Enhancement of Public Education in BC was rewarding because it forced us to reflect on what we do. We have really evolved as a community since this video was made, and while we don’t necessarily give students as much freedom as we have in the past, we’ve created better scaffolding to support students getting their work done… on both the school work they need to do, and the projects they want to do.
A couple recent Daily-Ink posts have focussed on the school: Students design the school about student designed and created murals; and, Obstacles become the way about a student working through a problem rather than letting that problem become an obstacle or a failure point in his project. Creating the space for these things to happen is, as Al says at the end of the video, a worthy goal. Weve fostered a pretty special community where we get to see our students thrive.
In some ways this has been a long, challenging school year. Covid-19 has made the year a shadow of what is normally expected. That will happen with a global pandemic’s agenda undermining activities, events, and plans usually completed in a school year. Yet here we are at the start of May, with just two months of school left before the year is over. Normally at this time of year, I start thinking about what I’d hoped to accomplish in the year, and reflect on if I’ve met my goals. I also think about what I want to accomplish before the school year is over.
My mind goes to our Grade 12’s, thinking about our grad ceremony, that I want to be special for them despite greater restrictions than what was possible last year. I find myself thinking about our June PAC barbecue that usually comes after grade 8’s spend a day at our school, organized by our students, to help our future grade 9’s learn about what September will be like at our school. Holding this virtually doesn’t give the incoming students the experience we want, and doesn’t give our current students the leadership experience they want and enjoy.
I have never before entered the month of May thinking about what I can’t do, rather that what still needs to be done. No year end field trips, no student organized pot lucks, no gatherings of any kind. It’s hard to look towards the end of the school year without thinking first that it won’t be what I hope it to be, and second that it will be over before we realize it. It’s also hard to think that September will likely be quite similar, with few restrictions being lifted.
I’ve been saying since before the Christmas holidays, ‘Things will start to return to normal by January 2022″. This has given me some solace because I don’t find myself disappointed when the vaccine rollout is slower than I had hoped, or when there are promises of things being normal by September when I know that won’t be happening. The long horizon of waiting for the start of the next calendar year before we see movement towards normal has kept me from holding unrealistic optimism that would surely end in disappointment.
But here at the start of May, the disappointment is hitting me a little. I want to see an exciting year end. Our grad is usually an epic year end annual celebration, student run, with entertainment and performances by our student body. But for the second year in a row this won’t happen the way we wish it could. If I’m honest, I’m starting May without the excitement I normal feel. Normally I would see so much to do ahead and realize the year will be over in the blink of an eye, but this year I’m just hoping to end the year positively. I’m hoping everyone stays healthy, and I’m hoping my expectations for January 2022 come a little sooner than expected.
Yesterday I wrote ‘Choosing or observing?‘ In which I said, “How much time do we spend being observers of this world, mere victims of our circumstances, versus creators of our world, choosing our path and seeking out new experiences, new things that our senses can take in?“
On LinkedIn, Kelly Christopherson responded, “…I definitely need to be more active and choose to create and share more.”
I hadn’t though of creating and sharing at all when I wrote that post. I was thinking about time, focus, and attention, but not about the choice to share our work and what we do. I have an educational blog that I’ve barely contributed to these past few years; a podcast I keep wanting to, but rarely, add to; and a monthly email subscription that I haven’t written in over a year. I’ve also drastically reduced my sharing on social media. I’m not sure if this is just a phase I’m going through or if social media just feels less social these days?
That said, since July 2019 I have written and shared a blog post daily. That’s a year and 3/4 now of sharing something every day. I won’t lie, it has been a challenging commitment. I’ve written a few later than midnight and back-dated the post… I was still awake and consider this part of the day before, since I haven’t gone to sleep yet. Beyond that, I might have missed one or two along the way, but I don’t think so?
So, my educational blog and podcast have been pushed aside, and maybe I’ll try to get that monthly newsletter out starting after this summer, but I’ve shared something here on this Daily-Ink for well over 600 days in a row… and I don’t see myself changing this habit any time soon.
So, why did Kelly’s comment strike a cord with me? For a while he and I, along with Jonathan Sclater, shared our fitness adventures with each other. Recently, I’ve been going through the motions with my workouts, struggling to push myself, and I wonder if I shouldn’t start connecting with these guys again to help push me. I think it’s time to share a little more. To not just engage but interact, be more social, and share.
Last night it was still bright out at 8pm. This morning I could see the blue light of the morning, rather than complete darkness, at 5:15am. This is such a welcome shift from the winter gloom that darkens the skies at 4:30pm and doesn’t brighten them again until after 7am. It might still be spring but the feeling of summer is here.
I enjoy waking up to a room lit by natural light. It feels so much more effortless to begin my day. I find myself more eager to get the day started, and find that my eyes widen to take in the light in a way that darkness doesn’t invite.
It’s hard to believe it is almost the end of April. I feel like the year has simultaneously been long and drawn out, while it has also disappeared in the blink of an eye. It has felt long with restrictions being something always on my mind, both at work and in my personal life. Meanwhile, every year seems to go faster, and time slips by without the realization that the days and months are gone.
As the days get longer, I’m left wondering how the years seem shorter? Perhaps it’s because to a 10 year old, 5 years is half a lifetime, and to a 53 year old 5 years isn’t even a 10th of my life. Does time go by faster simply because relative to my age, any significant unit of time represents less of my total life?
Whether that’s the case or not, I’m reminded to value the time I’ve got. To cherish the family and friends I have, and to seize the enjoy the moments that make up my day… starting with the appreciation of natural light helping me to start my day, and reminding me that summer will be here in no time at all.
Before yesterday, my personal best in archery, on a Vegas 300 score card was a 281. (10 ends, on 3 targets, 30 arrows total with 10 being the highest score of an arrow, whether you hit the X-ring or 10-ring, for a maximum score of 300). I had hit 280 three times and 281 twice. Yesterday I scored a 285.
Today I shot two more rounds. In round one I got a personal best again, and I also achieved one more goal too… 30 arrows all in the gold (scoring only 9’s and 10’s). I thought I would have to practice a lot more before doing this. In the process, I scored a 286. I was on cloud 9!
I took a short break to prep some targets. Then on my first practice arrow back on the line I did this:
It was the ‘perfect’ return to the archery line because it stuck a little humble pie into my growing ego.
Then in my second round, I got a couple 8’s in my 4th and 5th ends. I knew that I was shooting well beyond that, but wasn’t sure how well? My final end started with an 8 after I struggled to keep my bow steady and stubbornly didn’t let down and reset. I was shooting alone and a profanity might have crossed my lips in a rather booming voice. Still, I took a deep breath, reset my breathing, and hit two 10’s to finish off my scoring. I still had no idea what my score was, and thought maybe that last 8 stopped me from tying my 286. I was wrong. I scored a 289.
TWO-EIGHTY-NINE!
A couple stats that I’m blown away by:
1. 22 of 30 arrows scored 10. For perspective, when I shot my 286 I only had 16 arrows score 10.
2. Although I scored three 8’s, my score on those ends were all 28’s, with me getting two 10’s for my other arrows, and those were my only 28’s. All other rounds were 29’s with two 30’s. That means I scored at least two 10’s every round!
Add these to the fact that I scored an all gold round, and I have to say that I’m on fire! I thought I was a month or two away from an all gold round, and many, many months away from a 289. So now my goal is consistency. I’m more focused on another ‘all gold’ round scoring in the 280’s than I am on a 290. That won’t come without consistency, and so reducing the bigger errors now will get me to both ‘all gold’ and 290 sooner than worrying about the difference between a 9 and a 10.
But that’s all in the future, right now it’s time to celebrate. I scored an ‘all gold’ round today, and then I crushed my personal best and got a 289!
I sometimes need to remind myself that I’m still new to archery. Yesterday I did something bizarre. Twice in less than an hour, I launched an arrow into the wall about 8-10 feet above my target, mid draw. My trigger release didn’t misfire, I somehow pulled back at a bad angle and let the string slip out of the release. Both times I was shocked. Both times I had no idea what I did to cause this. Both times I knew it was human error and not my equipment, but didn’t know what to do differently?
I spent the rest of that practice paying so much attention to my draw that I didn’t shoot very well. Today in practice I looked down at my hands just before I drew and I saw the problem.
Before I begin the draw cycle, I put tension on my bow string to get the feel of my bow into the right spot in my bow hand. I don’t know when I started doing this, but I was pulling on the release with my thumb up. However, the draw cycle involves drawing back with my pinky finger up. So, I’d put tension on the string, thumb up, raise my bow, and as I started my draw cycle I’d have to rotate my wrist 180°. In that process I must have twisted my pinky finger too far back allowing the string to slip out of the release… twice. Two arrows destroyed, and at the time, not a clue why?
Today I shot very poorly in my first round, then mostly much better the second round. Mostly.
I scored a 280 and my personal best is 281. But I don’t see the the good shots, I see the 7 in the red outer circle of the third target.
I don’t see the perfect score in end 2, I see the two 8’s in a row in end 6… the 7 after the two X’s overshadow the X’s in end 8.
Cognitively, I know that I need to ‘let go’ of the mistakes. To learn from them. To not let the previous shot affect the next shot. I like archery because it can sometimes feel like meditation. But then I treat it like a competitive sport and get mad at myself for not being better than I am… Like I’m not still a rookie, learning the ropes and shooting arrows accidentally, because I lack body awareness.
I’m my own worst enemy, placing too much pressure on myself, and not celebrating the successes. I forget that scores under 270 were a regular thing for me just 3 months ago.
I forget that the journey is what matters, and that I’m on a good path to getting better. And I forget that the path will be faster if I focus more on doing things right, again and again, rather than being upset and clouding my brain with unproductive thoughts and feelings.
I’m just a rookie, and I’ve got a lot to learn. 1,000 arrows from now I will be better. How much better? Well, that depends on if I can keep my expectations realistic, and focus on improving rather than beating myself up with unrealistic expectations. 280 is a great score, I only got 281, my personal best, a few days ago. I learned a valuable lesson today, and hopefully won’t ever release an arrow during my draw again. I am getter better!
