Brave New world

I must admit that I am overwhelmed on what to write about and it is creating a logjam of ideas and thoughts in my head.  I am lost at where to start and what to write about.  I thought about doing an audio recording like a lovely blogger on the IDP website.  I talk more than I write but I am trying to change that so I am going to stick to the keys of the computer until I cannot take it any more.  There are so many things going on in my life that are new and changing the way I look at the world and I do not really know where to start.


So what is going on?  I have started a relationship with a little sister from the Big Sister/Little Sister program.  It is at least a year commitment and for the first three months we see them once a week to build a relationship, then move to every other weekend.  I have also started working with a teacher of NonViolent Communication at "the Farm" at a Prison near by.  The farm is for those that have been moved to minimum or pre-release status.  The class is 12 weeks long and there are about 15 guys in the class.  I am observing/participating in hopes of being able to teach it.  The teacher is also looking to take the class into the Medium Security prison near by which ups the stakes quite a bit.  The other big event is that I have broken up with my long-term significant other for what seems like a permanent break (the first breakup did not take) and here I am older, alone and trying to figure out my life.  I constantly miss him (or miss having someone) and am working every day to "reframe" my world.  There is more that is going on too - uncertainty with my job and career, finishing up my Stanford Compassion Teacher training, my boys are growing up and the house as of August will be completely empty, and all this while I try to answer the big questions about my life - what am I doing and why? What do I want to offer the world?  What do I want the world to offer me?

I have learned so much from everything that I am participating in right now.  It is opening my world and mind in ways I never really expected and is helping me create a greater commitment to my own life.  I did not know what to expect from it but I have received already more than I ever could have imagined.

I am going to create a post for the Little Sister, NVC Class, and Reframing my life alone and keep you updated as the experiences progress.  It feels awkward to break them up because there is interdependence between all the experiences and how they are impacting my world view but it is just too much in one post.  I cannot imagine how wordy I could get and several pages later....well if you knew me you could imagine.