Flow from Susan Cain's Book Quiet-the Power of the Introvert in a World that Can't Stop Talking

Flow...oh how did I seriously get flow in the chapter entitled Why did Warren Buffet Prosper?  Susan Cain defines flow as: is an optimal state in which you feel totally engaged in an activity--whether long distance swimming or songwriting, sumo wresting...in the state of flow you are neither bored nor anxious and you do not question your own adequacy. Hours pass without you knowing. It is activity for its own sake.  You could be absorbed for days.  This happens to me.  I don't ever want to get out of the flow because it feels so good to be locked in.  This happens when I am blogging or writing poetry. I went to see Alma Flor Ada, the Spanish poet extraordinaire. She gave a workshop on Spanish poetry and then we wrote some of our own poem in Spanish.  She started us off and then I was hooked. I was literally engulfed in what I was doing.  For the next 5 hours, I didn't pay much attention to anything else but crafting the poem about my daughter.  There was lunch, but I don't remember much about it. I kept thinking I had to get back or lose the words and idea.  I didn't want to break the flow.  Then I had to attend a workshop in the afternoon.  I attended and sat in the chair while a nice woman talked about teaching poetry and ideas to help.  She was more like the teacher in the Charlie Brown classroom. I didn't hear her, because I was in the flow.  I kept on writing and thinking and writing.  When I arrived home, I got on my desktop computer and went to my blog Just Write Baby! and then kept going amid the tears.  I wrote and recrafted and wrote and recrafted until I got it just write.  Then I posted and shared with my daughter what I had wrote about her.  Of course I sent it out and my native Spanish speaking friends helped me with a few things and I edited it over and over and then revised a bit more.  Was I ever proud of it!  It just came to me and flowed.  Did I write it for a reward?  Hardly, I wrote it because it needed to be done.  It had to come out.  When the spirit moves, you have to move with it or never have that idea be realized.  So that brings me back to my introvertedness.  It is easy to post online.  You don't know who is reading, but there are people who do read.  I have no problem posting my work.  It is a joy, especially when I get in the flow.  The problem I have is with people I don't trust or feel truly know me. I cannot, without reservation, express what I think and feel around them.  I trust the small group and the people that I have spent time getting to know.  The people where I feel safe.  When I am around those that I do not have a strong rapport in a bigger setting, forget about the flow.  I get uncomfortable and need to find a place to feel safe and me.  In those instances, during meeting and what not, I tend to search out a 1 on 1 situation or small group, to survive and maybe thrive.  I might just cocoon into my notebook.  As of late my doodles look like art and if I were a tatoo artist, I would be in high demand and filthy rich.  You should see them.  Being an introvert is a gift!  Can't wait to get into more flow and now I am searching out the opportunity!

The Quiet...Observations

I am almost finished with my book called Quiet by Susan Cain.  I lament the fact that I am almost done because I don't want my journey to end.  It is as if, by reading this book, I have ventured into new territory.  Reading this book and pondering the many possibilities has made reexamine my life and my gift of being an introvert. Yes, I know...to some it may be considered a curse.  To me, now that I know what I am and why I am the way that I am, it is freeing.  I am on page 200 now and I love the way Susan Cain has compared and contrasted the different cultures that extol the introvert and those that unfortunately diminish the gift of the introvert or soft power. "In the long run," said Ni (person being interviewed for the book), "if the idea is good people shift. If the cause is just and you put your heart into it, it's almost a universal law: you will attract people that want to share your universal cause. Soft power is quiet persistence. The people I am thinking of are very persistent in their day-to-day and person-to-person interactions. Eventually they build up a team." Soft power, said Ni,was wielded by people we've admired throughout history: Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Buddha. Cain sighted Gandhi as an introvert. Gandhi's passive resistance was categorized or repackaged by Gandhi himself as "firmness in the pursuit of truth." I like that so much better.
Gandhi thought things out and picked his battles.  He won over his enemies without lifting a finger and being aggressive.  Calmness and questioning were his tactics. Firmness in the pursuit of truth indeed!
I sometimes feel that I am being taken advantage of if I don't speak up and stand my ground in some instances.  It doesn't feel right to me many times and I don't want to appear to be a complete idiot protesting so much.  My question is this:  How do you get people to notice your ideas and creativity when they are being drowned out by the extroverts that are so much louder and obnoxious? I have so many ideas, but do not always get them out there because I am waiting for a moment to speak and that moment never seems to come my way. I need to read on to find out how I can be heard and my ideas be appreciated for what they are.  I may not know an answer right now, but give me time to think and ponder, think and ponder and then watch out...but if they are never heard because it is so difficult to find away to be listened to in a world that won't stop talking.  Love the book Quiet...The Power of Introverts In a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.

TCTELA Spectacular

My brain has been exploding this weekend.  First it exploded from a migraine that I suffered at Friday's TCTELA's Conference.  It didn't leave me fully incapacitated until after my session though.  I think it was the excitement of it all and my presentation.  I tend to get pumped about presenting.  I was also very pleased to meet up with my good friend and colleague Alana Morris.  If you have never had the pleasure of meeting this dynamo, you really haven't lived.  I have worked with her in SBISD for 6 and a half years.  In January, she moved onto another district.  We have been keeping in touch, but it seemed like a zillion years since I had a prolonged chat with her.  Needless to say, it was heaven to laugh and catch up with her.  It was funny too because she was presenting at the exact same time I was and was just next door.  I had a techie gadget that she needed, so it felt like old times.
I wanted to post these photos of day two for you.  I will post more about the conference in the upcoming days.  My brain just needs to process all that I learned and experienced!

TCTELA Friends

I am so glad to be here at TCTELA! Had some time to catch up with my good friend and colleague Alana Morris! Here is my poor-excuse-for-a-selfie photo with Alana.

TCTELA

Starting my day with a cup of McDonald's coffee and getting nudged to explore a Pechakucha! Fun!

Peach-Dedicated my dear friend Cathie Robinson

This is my first draft.  I am still trying to figure out some things here, but will return to revise.  I wish I could encapsulate all that you mean to me Cathie.  I hope that I have captured this for now.  You mean so much to me as a person and a professional.  I am truly indebted to you forever. The Good Lord put us together for a reason.  May the Good Lord bless you now and forever.  Thanks friend!

PEACH

Sometimes 

Meeting people
Along the way
On the journey

Never to forget

One person
Difference made

Life impacted
much to gain

Someone

Someone

never let go

here for a while

 a decade

or so

still...

not long enough
for me

So hard

so hard

to let 

go

Doesn't seem real

Can't  take a hold
dream so foggy

cannot

story's cut short
not to be told
make sense
you leaving?

Hard to compute
Just gotta
let you
go

Funny

Let you go once

two years to the day

Now 

Here it comes my way
again

that day

when goodbyes

won't do

tears go through me

run down my cheeks

soul

 seared

to the bone

charred

remains

am I

That person

holds so much
priceless

from the

encouragement

compassion

inspiration

class

a shoulder

to cry

someone to listen

 my coach

 sister
mentor

friend

PEACH

Who would have thought?

thirteen years
come and gone

this peach

would

could

help me grow

better person

I am 

still

it hurts

down deep

'cause I gotta

for the third time

let go

Difficulty
cannot find the words
to express
my gratitude

writing this poem

for this peach

of a person

with such divine

dignity

so special

endearing

to me

my mentor

example
simply

Cath-ie

Want you to know

the world
you mean to me

I will never forget
Let it slip my mind

your kinds words

so many words

full of charity

peace and serenity

some laughter

with some

grit

the truth

always

pushing me

forth
to goodness
betterment
never say never
ask a question
a time or two

just plain said

you believe in me

always have

always will

and this I treasure
above all

You will never know

how much

you mean
can't do it justice

Cathie 

you are a peach

so wonderful

Eternally grateful

I stand humbled
 to say

what a friend

you have been
in my life

will continue

to be
thirteen years
y pico
extraordinary

such a

PEACH

TCTELA Conference January 23-25 in Houston

The Texas Council of the Teachers of English Language Arts is having their conference next weekend in Houston.  I cannot wait to attend.  There will be great workshops to attend.  People like  Jeff Anderson, Donalyn Miller and Alana Morris.  I will be conducting a session as well.There will be workshops with authors like Paul Janeczko and Christopher Paul Curtis. So much to see and learn!  Go to the link below to learn more.

TCTELA Conference Schedule

TCTELA Conference

TCTELA

Free...

Free

By Maureen Ucles

Trudging

Smudging

Rather pudgy

Looking

Based on the

Weight I gained

Seemed so insane

The stress

Worry

In such a hurry

To get to…

Today

Today

I have gone 

Closed the door

Turned the key
Bolted shut
Walked away

No more worries,

Not for me

No more pain

No, not in the least

I am

Completely

Unequivocally

Surprisingly

Free

Free like MLK

or maybe LBJ

returning home
to Cleveland

Not a care

Not a worry

Simply

Utterly

Free

Free like lunches

Served up piping hot

In warm soup kitchens
homeless shelters

Free like…

Government cheese

Grilled to perfection

Free like…free like..

That would be

That would be

ME!

Open the gates

Let the shackles fall

Down, down

This is surreal

In slow motion

Under water

No noise do I hear...feel

‘cept sweet serenity

Just like me
Peace
so palpable
incredible
free

Let the cell walls crumble
to the ground

I'm a

Walking out

Solitary confined me

No more

Light of day

Sears my eyes

Doesn’t matter

In the least

‘cause baby

I am free

On my own

Free like a bird soaring

In the Southern sky

Mid December

Free

Water all up in my eyes

Face and cheeks

Baptismal font

Free

Simply free

Am I

To be more

Do more

Be ME!

Out of the box

Look out y'all!

   Feels so good, 

nothing short of great

All of the above

Elevating

Strolling

Out of controlling

My emotions

Spectacularly free!

Books, Books, Books..What to do?

I am going to try to do three book studies in the upcoming months.  I want to do a book study for When Kids Can't Read by Kylene Beers, Readers in the Wild by Donalyn Miller, and Quiet by Susan Cain.  That is the way it is with me.  I have interests and I want to pursue them no matter if it seems to be too much.  I also know that I can be ambitious in my pursuits and later regret it.  I regret it, not because I don't want to do it, but I seem to run out of precious time.  Other projects pop up that I don't plan for because they are in the future.  I will do this any how knowing the consequences because I so want to read these books so bad and share my thoughts with others.  It will also give me a chance to get to know other people's thoughts and ideas.  There are a billion reasons to do this and a few nagging time constraints that pull at me.  Nonetheless I shall move forward.

Kylene Beers book has been recommended to me by Alana Morris.  I bought it at NCTE a zillion years ago in San Antonio.  I just never cracked it open for more than two seconds, due to...time constraints.  I am so looking forward to reading this with my book club.  I have teamed up with Martha Meyer to have a face to face book study and add a virtual Face Book group to the mix.  I love it!  I am so looking forward to this journey.

Reading in the Wild is a book that I bought last Spring.  After hearing Donalyn Miller at TCTELA I was inspired to get more into the writings of the Book Whisper.  I bought her book on Audible and listened on my way to work, but my mind wonders because the voice over was quite boring.  I know Donalyn's voice would be so much more animated.  Now I have this book and I can't wait to get a book study going on.  I cannot wait for the Christmas/Winter break so I can cuddle up next to this book on cold December mornings with my cup of Blond coffee with extra cream from Starbucks. It will be nice.

I am half way through Susan Cane's book Quiet.  I love this book because it reveals so much about who I am as an introvert.  It answers so many questions about me and why I am the way I am.  I have two colleagues that are waiting to start a book study. I have set up a blog for this.  Now I need to set up some meeting dates to decide which chapters we want to read and when.  My blog is called Come to the Quiet.  The address is www.cometothequiet2.blogspot.com if you would like to join.

I also have a many, many summaries due for my Abydos writing training.  So much to do...so little time.  I haven't even touched on this.  Another day, another post.

Six Years and...Revised

Six Years and…

By Maureen Ucles

Six years and a half—

Could have sworn 

Just yesterday

We were workin’

Bouncing ideas

Free flowin’

Oh no!

Step around, jump, skip

Whatever you can

Don’t step

on that crack

Break your mamma’s back

Or my heart

Whichever comes first…

Six years and a half

Can’t remember it all

Can never go back

I just wanna

Slow down… time

Tick-toc  tick-toc

You could never

Stop time

Nor can I

sigh

Times a changing

With more

TIC TOC TIC TOC

TIC TOC TIC TOC

Sounds ‘a rackin’ my brain

Feel a little convoluted

Little insane

Just can’t see it

My way

No way

Can’t play

To jail

Set sail

On your way

out

Six years and a half

Running

Always, always

Running out of…

Never ever

Walking, slowing

down

Nope it’s me

Me knowing

BOOM!

You’re gone

No more…

Fun in the Sun

Belly laughter

Bursting at the seams

Borrowed time

On clearance

Now gone-

Past layaway

Cash register

Checked out

Six years and counting

Why does it have to end…

this way?

Hard

So very hard

To say

Goodbye and

Set the past free

What it can be

What it was

Now

Without me

Just gone, gone, gone

Cold chills

Flowing

Uphill

In my veins

Not so easy

With my poor lungs

Tired of breathing

Still wheezing

Allergies

Asthma

Such a catastrophe

Am I

Without ya

Six years and a half

Don’t really have the Math

To compute

This craziness

Insanity… times three

Why do you have to flee?

No sense

Is this making

And me?

Nope, not faking

Cannot seem to awake

From this nightmare

I am ‘a livin

Six years and a half

Done gone

Like cold coffee

Down the drain

With those grinds

Six stinkin’ years

No more

And

a half

To be continued