Ch-ch-changes! Ma vie, v2.0.

Ahh, summer.

Fantastic, relaxation, quiet contemplation. Sleeping in. No bells! Spending copious amounts of time outdoors and visiting family and friends. This is the life!

..or at least that is what it usually is. This year it's a bit different.

This year, we are making a significant move, to a place where nobody knows us, to be closer to my school and my hubby's work. It is an overwhelmingly positive step for us, to a place we had once deeply considered years ago.
I am excited and scared, worried and anticipatory.

We are leaving the familiar...the town in which my husband and I married in, the town in which my daughter did a great deal of her elementary schooling, the town we thought was IT. Our forever home.

But sometimes stability means being elsewhere. Maybe you discover that peace of mind is wrapped up in defining, clarifying and unabashedly pursuing your dreams. Though difficult, it means ignoring what others tell you is the right choice, because they speak from the pain of losing that familiar proximity.

Let's face it - nobody is over exuberant about leaving his or her comfort zone.

It's not far away. I will be back to visit. They do say you never can go home again.

So I make our new nest and hatch my new plans and we build our nest egg  just a bit south of where we thought we'd be.

As educators - especially as 21st century educators - we are agents of change by nature.

Alas, change brings with it conflict. But doesn't it also create a better tomorrow? Is it not the crux upon which Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech stood? Did it not give my typewritten and hand-scrawled musings a way to be instantly shared among heaven-knows-how-many people, instantaneously? Did change not create literacy? Society? The wheel?

I shall not fear, for though staring down at the water from ten feet up is daunting, I know the thrill of the jump will be my reward.

Next time I blog, it will be from my new coop, with v 2.0 of my dreams. It will most definitely include curriculum and Français as well. But for now, I will focus on setting up the new roost.

I know it will  be just ducky!

A la prochaine,
Mme Poulet

The evolution of The Chickenlady to Madame Poulet.

Once upon a time, I was a chicken. I confess. I would cluck constantly, but much was unintelligible chatter. I often thought the sky was falling, and frantically tried to get others to grind my corn into flour, but alone I stood, in frustration, doing it myself.

I walked around with a panicked look in my eyes and never quite understood how to tame my inner fire and outer fear.

Then one day, it magically happened. I looked back and realized that I could be. Just be. In my calm, in my fear, in my excitement, in my joy.

This liberated Madame Poulet. I became a woman. I began to see myself as a leader among children and realized that I do, indeed, have gifts to share with other leaders. I can, in fact, choose to put out meaningful words into the universe. I can ask for help grinding my corn into flour, and if that request is not granted, I can graciously seek it elsewhere.

I will never stop seeking now, as it really does exist. And I promise to do my best to help grind your corn to flour. If I cannot, I promise to help you find a miller.

As a French teacher with a bent on psychology and Gestalt, Twitter was a godsend. I believed I was doomed to be Chicken Little in a world of ducks and geese who couldn't possibly understand what ma classe was all about, let alone could they help me in my weak moments. It amazes me how suddenly, since finding Twitter,  I have become a confident teacher, happy with myself and proud of mes habilités.

I need to thank my Twitter nest for showing me that I can, indeed, be proud of my plumage and have something to share with the world.

Merci bien!
Shannon
www.twitter.com/mmepoulet