I’ve never really been a person who has been attracted to New Year’s Resolutions. A number of years ago I found a movement on Twitter that used the #OneWord resolutions. In 2018 I attempted to be “BOLD” and it was a year that I was put into the limelight. In 2019 I was unsure of what to use but I found inspiration in a message from a pastor in the last few days of 2018. I ended up using the word “IMPACT” to keep my focus on the importance of my work with those around me. I’m sorry that in 2020 I used the word “UNCOMFORTABLE.” I feel like that world was impacted by my poor choice in words. In 2021 I went with the word “BALANCE” as I wanted to make sure to keep myself in check with my work/life/family balance.
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This year has been a lot different. We are moving back to “normal” while still in the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a struggle getting back into the swing of things when things are still not 100%. Teaching in a mask has been difficult but I do it for others. Practices that I’ve used in the classroom for decades aren't effective because students have been remotely learning for the better part of a year and a half. In a way I’m not teaching K-7th graders I’m actually teaching pre-pre schoolers to fifth graders. This year I thought about not doing a #OneWord as I really haven’t been inspired.
This week I watched the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with my son. This was something that he wanted to do over break. He quickly realized that he had seen the movie but we watched it together anyway. The end of the movie is a dark time as the heroes have lost hope. Two of the main characters, Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins have been captured by the forces of Gondor. As they are taken back to the city but the enemy has surrounded the city and it’s only a matter of time before the stronghold falls. The speech that caught my ear came from the Hobbit Samwise (Sam). As the enemy was about to overrun them Frodo was ready to give up and Sam gave this speech.
This week I watched the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with my son. This was something that he wanted to do over break. He quickly realized that he had seen the movie but we watched it together anyway. The end of the movie is a dark time as the heroes have lost hope. Two of the main characters, Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins have been captured by the forces of Gondor. As they are taken back to the city but the enemy has surrounded the city and it’s only a matter of time before the stronghold falls. The speech that caught my ear came from the Hobbit Samwise (Sam). As the enemy was about to overrun them Frodo was ready to give up and Sam gave this speech.
Sam's speech in Osgiliath, at the end of the Two Towers. (HD Blu-ray)
Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy.
Sam: How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Sam: Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.
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There is so much in this segment that is relatable to our lives right now. We’ve had a darkness hanging over us since March 2020. We have wondered how we can go back to normal after all that has passed. Many have been sick, some have died, many have lost jobs, etc. I don’t think I really understand what has happened in the last (almost) two years but we keep going. It’s been a long time since I last watched The Two Towers and as Samwise was talking I was thinking the word “HOPE” would come along but it never did. The word that stuck out to me was “GOOD.”
Maybe that is what 2022 should bring, GOOD! We are divided more than ever. Divided on masks, divided on vaccines, divided on the greater good, divided on politics… Divided. Maybe we need to focus on doing GOOD! I really wish this is something that I could challenge others to do but I know that the only person I can expect to change is myself. This year my goal is to do good. To do good for my family. To do good with my friends (actually something I’ve not done well during the pandemic). To do good for my students. To be good for my colleagues. To be good for myself. In the end this is what will change the world. Maybe this is where our names will be in those great stories and songs taught to our kids and grandkids and passed down from generation to generation.