The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post--But, Not Really

Today, a brisk day indeed, found me walking through the woods with my 4 furbabies faithfully traipsing beside me. We had a mission, although some folks may find it sad or morbid, and despite the near below freezing temps, my dogs and I sojourned to a special spot deep in the woods by Maple Lake.  That is where my beloved Marley is now buried.  She died last year, February 6, on a day that felt similar to this one in temperature and that was what propelled me to visit there today.  I don't go often to the place she is buried, although I go to those woods no fewer than twice a week.  

So, in any case, there I am, walking with Josie, Jack, Murphy and Riley when I see an opening in the woods that opens up to a trail, so immediately I want to explore it.  I don't often do that--explore I mean, especially when I'm alone because with dogs it's never a good idea to not know your terrain. But the feeling of wanting to, well that started me thinking.

When I think, I habitually try to draw parallels. I have an inherent need to try to connect to things--to synthesize the knowledge I have to make sense of knowledge I aspire to. I notice that many of you do that too. It tickles me when I see you do it. But, I digress. (shocker)
 So, anyway--parallels.  Like wanting to explore the trail--the same thing happens when I open a notebook to a blank piece of paper--I immediately want to fill it with words, ideas, thoughts (some half-baked, some not) etc. Or when I stare out into the ocean and immediately feel the urge to sail to the ends of it to see where it stops. I am fascinated by the unknown and it is because of that fascination I became a teacher in the first place. Why? Because the unknown triggers a desire in me to KNOW, to learn. And I am so thankful for that because without it, I wouldn't have 204, this blog or all of you.  Every year there are new things, new ideas, new kids to talk to, to learn about to KNOW. It's really quite something.

And that, my pumpkin-sunshines, is what I want to focus on this week, especially in the spirit of my favorite holiday--Thanksgiving. Which, by the way will be E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T!! I fully expect to eat myself into a food coma.  Bring it ON.

So, tell me, what is it that you're thankful for? Now, please don't limit yourselves to the trite old cliches like "I'm thankful for my family" blah blah blah...Not that it isn't good to be thankful for your fam--of course it is. But what I want you to do here, not surprisingly I hope, is go a little deeper. I am thankful for my desire to KNOW-for wanting to explore unknown trails, to add to the store of things I learn on a day-to-day basis. I explained why already--and I want you to do the same. It won't be enough to tell us what you are thankful for--you also need to include the WHY. Try to consider yourself--who you are, what you value and where you imagine yourself to be in the future.

Use the force.

Last Guys Don't Finish Nice

I am a Robert Greene fan.
The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War (I don't have the one he wrote with 50Cent) are all displayed prominently on my bookshelves, and the abuse each one of them has taken (bent pages, cracked spine, coffee spills/burns) would indicate that I've read them several times.
Further, it comes as no surprise (well, to me I mean) that I am feeling a bit cynical this evening, and for that, I apologize; I think that my internal struggle with cynicism thanks to Greene may have influenced this week's intellectual proposition. I shall let you be the judge, however, as to whether or not this was a good or a bad thing.

As many of you know, and if you didn't you do now, I am not that into "people." There are a select few I would ever willingly share time with, and more often than not, it shows.  The true friends (not the acquaintances--you have to have those or it's really hard to survive in the world as an adult) I have now are friends I've had for quite a while--it's not always easy for me to make new ones and frankly, I don't often (ok, probably never) try. But, don't misunderstand me--I know that this is not considered "normal" and I often wish that this aspect of my personality were not so deeply rooted .
Now, before I go any further, I feel it pertinent to actually define what I mean when I say "people."
So, here it goes, for lack of a more...academic definition:
PEOPLE: Individuals who are not kids (and yes, I realize the absurdity there since EVERYONE was at one time, in fact, a kid--I never said my appeals were to logos);  mostly over the age of 30 and under the age of 80 (for some reason, I find the elderly fascinating).
And there you have it--the definition of people in the world of Cassie Bunje.

This rather pessimistic and certainly asocial view of the human race is not something with which I was born, however, I feel that it began cultivating itself at a rather young age. My childhood was not one to be looked back upon wistfully, and it didn't really get much better as I grew into young adulthood. This was due, almost entirely, to my interactions with and observations of, you guessed it--people. In fact, until I became a teacher, I held out very little hope that I would ever be able to gaze upon the face of another human being without a hint of scorn, mistrust or distaste. True story. Truth be told, and this is not me being dramatic at all--you could probably accurately say that teaching saved my soul. More on that later.

So, back to today and the churning maelstrom of pessism taking hold of me. In my reading earlier ( I was searching for a quote from Greene and forgot which book it was in--so I skimmed them all), I happened upon an interesting quote.
 I would like you to read and reflect on this quote and tell me what you come up with in terms of whether or not you agree with what it says, and what it even means. As always, qualify your answer with an anecdote of personal (or not-so-personal--whichever you prefer) experience to help illustrate the point you are making.
Here it is:

"Niceness is a decision. It is a strategy of social interaction; it is not a character trait."  --Rovert Greene

Have fun, my pumpkinsunshinefaceheads...

"I Am Whatever You Say I Am..."

So, I like Eminem. There. I said it.
I actually like all sorts of music, and my iPod has an eclectic mix of Eminem, Jaz-Z, Lily Allen, the Shins, Imagine Dragons and...Sir-Mix-A-Lot. Don't judge.
Anyway, I so, back to Eminem. Questionable personl choices maybe, but in the end, he has valuable messages to communicate. Case in point:  "I am whatever you say I am If I wasn't than why would I say I am..."

At first glance, this is simple, almost elememtary (and poorly punctuated but who am I to judge?) "lyrical content," however, there is an underlying message that the rest of the words sort of belie.  I had the benefit of watching an interview of him once and in response to  the inevitably trite query: "where do you get your inspiration from, M? (seriously?! "M" as if you were bffs?  I hate these so-called "entertainment jounrnalists"), our pal Marshall casually replied, "people are gonna say what they say because they listen to my music and they assume they know me. As though there were nothing more to it than that."  His response, by no means a mine of intellecual ore, got me thinking and subsequently has become the inspiration behind this blog question.

How many times have you said to yourself, and for that matter, to anyone who would listen--"I don't care what anyone else thinks...".
I know I've said it at least once in the past month!  And it's only the 3rd.
In our heart of hearts, though, do we really believe that?
It seems an age-old question, but it is one that may not have just one answer: to what extent do other people's perceptions of you have an impact on the decisions you make?
Peer pressure, parental pressure, self-imposed pressure, all these outside, or inside, forces have the potential to make you act, or react, in ways that you normally might not if never exposed to those influences. My question is: Why? Why do we care? Why is it important? Why do other people's perceptions or expectations of who we are have so much of an influence on us? Or do they? Be honest with yourself when you answer. And keep in mind there are many questions buried here.  Perhaps you will exhume something buried in your own intellectual mine. (see what I did there?)