Lessons and More

What a tremendous week it has turned out to be. I am excited, refreshed, and reminded that life is in fact, a wonderful journey.

My friend Gail turned seventy this week. At her birthday party, I sat in the company of some of my favorite women. Robyn, the host of the party, a painter and gardener among other things, Jan, also an artist and one of my heroes, Mary, a savvy marketing director and Women's Fund of Winston Salem founder, and to round out the group, Patti and Susan, strong community supporters and both of whom I met through the Storyline Project. I was the youngest woman at the party, but as my mother has always told me, I have an old soul. Gail is amazing. She doesn't look the way one might think a seventy-year-old should look; she's active and deeply engaged in the going's on in the community. And she certainly doesn't "act" seventy. She is a busy body, if I ever saw one, a connector of people, and she does all of her life's work with such a joyful demeanor and a contagious energy. Sitting in a circle, under the blanket of the warm evening sky, I listen as this group of amazing women talk about how wonderful life is. Gail says that every year, her husband asks her what the best year of her life has been. How can you answer such a question? Gail says that she always thinks of the best year of her life as the first year she went to college. Her world opened up, she said. Then she acknowledges that her son would beg to differ; she tells us that her son has taken note of how happy she's been over her most recent years. She tells us that in fact, her life continues to grow, change and be rich and that the past few years have been fabulous. I am overjoyed to know that even after society says one should retire from activity and emotional growth, there is still so much to acquire.

During the gathering, I also have time to tell the ladies about my latest project: The Wedding Dress Project. They ask me what the impetus was to begin the project. They ask me questions about how I can make the project accessible to all people. They help me to continue to think through the project, and how it may be most effective. I have been speaking to various organizations, mostly over the phone these past two weeks. Yesterday, I had my second face-to-face meeting in North Carolina. I took a little trip the Chapel Hill, to speak with the director and program coordinator at the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County. We have a wonderful meeting, and I am in awe of how well the project has been catching on. I am beginning to plan some community events that would invite anyone interested or curious to participate in these workshops, to garner more support for the project.

At High Point, the semester is winding down, as I have mentioned. What a long semester it has been, and there are still a few things to do before we can all really call it quits for the summer. My students have their final showing coming up, and they seem very excited! The ballet students are putting their finishing touches on their variations, and the composition students are hard at work finalizing their solos and group works. I am always surprised by how much they anticipate these small, informal performances which act as their final exam. I can only imagine what their excitement will be when next spring's dance concert is on its way up. I will say, though I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching this year, and though I feel I have grown as a teacher in innumerable ways, I am only too happy to see summer on the horizon. I must recharge for what will surely be an even more hectic school year than this one. Summer for me, will be (hopefully my last) a hard lesson in frugality. So much to pay for, but as an adjunct still, no money coming in to pay for all of it. After being diligent and saving up for the summer, one thing after another has come up, and depleted my savings. As full time faculty this coming fall, I can only hope that next summer, I'll get to relax a bit more. I so excited at the thought of having only one job for the first time in my life. A sigh of relief...I love my job.

Until next time,

~Cara