Christmas family photo, 2020 style

Sadly, due to Covid, this year we were unable to go see my parents in Canada for the holidays... But thank goodness for Zoom.

Merry Christmas, peace and joy!

 Merry Christmas, peace and health to you!

Peace

Happy 17th Birthday to our wonderful Sena!!!

How can I describe Sena?  Environmental and social justice activist; junior in college; second degree black belt; these flat words don't even come close to encompassing the beautiful, caring, complex person she is.

May all her days be as bright and beautiful as she is.

Happy Birthday Sena!

That time

 

A wounded bird takes flight

My heart 

That time under the Christmas tree 

When I believed 

-rm

All we have within us. Or. Disturbance in the field of being.

 

There is no question that you will create a

Disturbance
The only question is
What kind of disturbance
Will that be

-rm

(Picture is of a mural I love at my school)

Peace

A field of birds

A ray lights up the dark

A field of birds take flight

A burst of joy

Renewed belief 

I am

-rm

(Image: Pixabay)

Lucy's note!!!

 I love this note so much. My little niece, Lucy, who is 7-years-old, sent it to me yesterday.

Peace

Moved to reflect on this

I've been moved to ask and reflect on this question below, by my recent experience getting certified as a teacher.

Some of us may never have had anyone who truly saw us; some of us may have had several people.

But regardless, WE can be someone who sees others and allows them to bring out and contribute their best. WE can give that to ourselves and to each other. 

For those of us who feel that we have no reason to be, what other reason do we need?

Peace

Once upon a time in Romania

 A picture of a picture that my mom sent me. I was 6. The shirt and skirt are traditional dress from Arges county. 

I feel like I've lived so many lives.

Peace

The fragility of hope

Not holding on

Nor letting go

I am in love

With the fragility

Of hope

-rm

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you grateful for?

It's been a tough year for many people. Still, I have a lot of things to be grateful for, including the obvious: that we are healthy and we have what we need, and that we have hope again after Biden was elected.

Two other things I wanted to mention:

I'm grateful that I was able to transition into yet another field of work in my life, and that I am getting to teach a subject I love.

And I'm grateful that my mom is healthier and found a way to help herself through diet and exercise. She lost over 10kg (22lbs)! And is feeling better with her depression, her energy level, her blood sugar and everything. She has inspired me and all of us - after all these years of doctors and trying everything, she found something that works for her and is motivated to stick with it!

I really do have a lot more that I'm grateful for, but it all boils down to just being here to experience whatever life brings, and to be able to share it with others.

Peace and Happy Thanksgiving!

What really saves us

What really saves us is this:

the fact

that at any point in our lives,

despite what came before,

despite where we are now,

despite the randomness and unfairness of life,

we can choose to do good.

Peace

Aiyana's Amazing Creative Outpouring

Aiyana has been in a major creative phase over the past few months. I think that being home due to Covid has allowed her to express herself in a way that she wasn't able to before.

She has been crocheing and opened her own etsy shop. She made me a sweater that I wore at school, and got compliments on, and when I said that my daughter made it, people could not believe it.

She has been cooking for us (and basically took over from me cooking now that I am so busy and involved with my school work), making delicious things like pizza from scratch, stuffed peppers, Romanian meat balls (chiftele), butternut squash soup, etc.

And she has been drawing. Here is some of her work:

Peace

1 minute video of Sena speaking about our farm

Sena was interviewed about our farm and growing local food a couple of weeks ago. Here's a 1 minute video of her which will become part of a larger video about farms and local food production.

https://youtu.be/mAsB1K19tmU

Before taking this teaching job, I was afraid of several things:

I was afraid that I would be thrown in without any support; I was afraid that I would be expected to provide all of my teaching materials and curriculum; I was afraid that I would be overwhelmed; and so on.

All of those fears came true. But there was one more fear: that I wouldn't be able to do it. That fear did not come true. I am doing it, and although my hands were shaking for weeks on end from being so hyped up, and although my stomach has also been kind of messed up for weeks, from being so stressed, things are calming down a bit, and I can honestly say that I love it. 

I still cannot believe that I'm teaching physics. I've always loved physics, but I never thought that one day I'd be teaching it, but somehow here I am, doing it, stumbling through it, and despite the stress, realizing in the quiet moments that I'm loving it. And I'm loving the kids in my class and my interaction with them. I want to do right by them and be a great teacher to them.

I also love the cultural diversity of my school. I had conversations with parents 100% in Spanish, and that is really fun, and it gets me to sharpen my Spanish skills.

Peace 

Light and Healing

There will be no closure to these wounds

They will continue to pour light and healing 

-rm

Wounds can become a source of bitterness and regret. They can perpetuate further hurt and misunderstanding. Or, they can become a source of compassion and understanding, softening us to the world and to our own place in it, thus generating an outpouring of healing light.

(Picture is in Mystic, CT, last Friday.)

I initially wrote this little poem for myself, on a personal level; but then I realized that it may also be quite applicable politically, to all of us as a people, at this moment in time.

Peace

HE WON!!!!

OMG! 😻😻😻😻😻

Feeling sick about it

Feeling sick about this election, even though it's not over yet. How can it be so close? After four years of proof. How can so many people still vote for him?

The only thing that I can think of to comfort myself right now, is that I know many, many other people out there are feeling just like I am right now, and we must be there for each other.

Hang in there...

Peace 

RAIN

Things have still been hyper intense over here with my new job. Not bad, just very stressful.

I figured out last night that this situation, how things are, will not change for at least another year. There are various reasons for that, which I won't go into.

So, I decided that I am the one who has to change and figure out a way to handle the situation in a more sustainable way.

So, after letting that thought sink in before falling asleep last night, I had a beautiful dream that I really treasure. Just a simple little dream in which my mom was showing me pictures of when I was a little girl. In one of them, I was running in the rain, with my head thrown back, and I was laughing. Looking at that picture in my dream, I could feel that true happiness and simplicity of the state I was in; that pure enjoyment of what is, for no particular reason.

Outside of my dream, I know that that feeling is real, and I know that it was a reminder for me that this state of simple joy is always accessible to me, even now when I am burdened with the cares and stresses of daily life.

Today, after I taught my class, I was posting a video on my YouTube channel. I started my own physics YouTube channel, to help students solve problems, etc. (go to YouTube and search Raluca Mocanu Physics and it should come up, if you're interested).

When I finished uploading my video, another video popped up. Like my dream last night, it was also on the theme of Rain, coincidentally or not, and it held a beautiful message and a method that felt almost like a reminder / complement to what I saw in my dream. The video is called "5 hindrances to self mastery" and Here it is if you want to watch it.

Peace

It really is the little things, sometimes...

One of my students anonymously posted this sticker this morning on our virtual white board while I was teaching my Physics class. I did not see it until after the class, but when I did, it made me so happy.

I guess I'm doing something right, at least for some of the students, even though things have felt so stressful over the past few weeks...

And here's snapshot of what my "white board" looks like teaching remotely. I got myself a stylus and pad that I can hook up to my computer and write on, so it appears on the screen like this. It's fun!

Peace