in the city that we love

Wake up, run things out, contemplate, work hard, contemplate, work hard, catch up with nuisances…

Crash.

Energy is low. Life projects are lagging. Writing, patience, rest, giving, loving.

All these things are put on the back burner.

If you close your eyes, does it always feel like you’ve been here before?

(via blissfulbblog)

Music is important as a life anthem. To motivate us to keep moving. To be moved. And to not be afraid of either of those things.

A friend reminded me last night, that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. That today is a day we can live, love, and make a difference.

After the tragedies in Boston, among countless other tragedies we have suffered as a global community in the last ten years, this should be obvious, and be a shared value, as we all work together to live a positive and vibrant life.

How are you adding color to your life? How are you infusing joy and thankfulness into your every moment? 

weekly joy {5}

The more I learn about the earth, the less I think I know. I am an eternal learner, and I love the prospect of having so many things to learn. It gives me a healthy dose of humility and a desire to connect with others on a deep level.

I am so intrigued by the minature earth project, which brings some great perspective

Adventure inspiration from my reading…

“Now we must all get out and dig* the river and the people and smell the world”  – On the Road, Jack Kerouac  

Caribou Coffee “Life is…” and What do you stay awake for?

Life is a soulful journey meant for compassion and forgiveness, finding joy in the smallest things, and loving with all you have. 

I stay awake for midnight conversations that change my understanding of the world for the better. 

A Whole World and similar books by Katie Couprie 

Check them out in English, Spanish, and French. These books are a journey for the sense, not only illustrated for kids, but a visual story of the world we live in. Perfect for learning children, passionate teachers, and conversations starters.

If you could make your own version of A Whole World, what things would you include? What types of photography, pictures, and artwork would you include? Where would you find inspiration? What media would you use? What is your vision of the world? Share it with others!

Summer project, anyone?

*check out number 4. What do you dig?

Happy Weekend.

XOXO. 

weekly joy {4}

Why Kids Need Schools to Change:

“people must be willing to try new things, to be more open, curious and experimental”

Be a virtual wanderer.

360cities. A garden in Venice.

Going everywhere is financially and physically impossible. So I love being a virtual wanderer. London is on that list for sure. Explore some Bookstores. Get the feel for big museums as well as the local vibe.

Madrid para Niños

by Javier Zabala. Gorgeous illustrations of the city that I’ve come to know and love.

For travelers and language lovers

this is an everyday must-read. Matador Network

Some fun things this week:

• learning Spanish through music
• this epic starry timelapse video

The perfect song for the wandering soul:

atm of happiness:

This article, by travel blogger Nikki, so poignant, yet reachable – about the essence of travel and sharing that love with others.

You can learn a country’s outline with a guidebook, but to know its soul, look to its literature, its language, its dance.

she will come to know her own heart 

the need to slip across borders and lose yourself in new places

the indelible mark traveling has left on my hungry heart

to feel her heart expand and contract as she takes in the chaos and calm of a new horizon

I want her to feel uncomfortable, confused, disoriented, and then proud when she rearranges herself and comes out the other side, knowing her own strength, exuding her own brand of joy

to find the difference between living and existing

to get wonderfully and hopelessly lost

Let your heart be overwhelmed with the kindness of strangers and the beauty of something new cracking open the protective casing of your soul. Be vulnerable and unsure and unafraid to grow.

when you return to us and your heart feels too big for the place you’ve returned to, remember you have someone who understands that…

Weekly joy {3}

The last 3 weeks have been absolutely crazy.

But in between the moments of insanity, have been reminders to slow down.

Just some things that have been helping me keep sanity and remember the glimpses of joy, even in the insanity:  

Josh Garrells

This is so worth a watch.

Realizing that what my elementary and middle school science teachers taught me, might have actually stayed with me.

This weeks mission: Teaching fourth grade English learners how to write a science report. Formulate the question and the hypothesis. Then test the hypothesis, to find the conclusion. Then write about it! I’m sure my science major friends will be criticising me here, but what a cool process to watch: getting little kiddos to think critically, and in their second (or in some cases, third) language!

(click on the photo or here to read a blog post about our experiment!)

When you’re reading a book, and you come across a passage that describes an exact moment in your life: 

“I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life, the strangest moment of all, when I didn’t know who I was- I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheep hotel room I’d ever seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn’t know who I was for about 15 strange seconds. I wasn’t scared; I was just some else.”

– On the Road, Jack Kerouac & Me after taking a nap the day I arrived in Madrid two years ago.

A painted chalk wall in urban Madrid, where street walkers write what they want to do before they die.

“Antes de morir, quiero…”

weekly joy {2}

Favorite Parody: Upside Downton Abbey

(click photo for video!)

Favorite New Tunes: Winter Trees – The Staves & Daughter – Youth

Favorite new bands to love:

Frightened Rabbits

Imagine Dragons

Favorite Documentary:

“Recycled Orchestra”

Interesting Articles of the Week:

Russian Family, 40 years without human contact

Loanwords, langauge is a virus

New interesting daily blog reads:

Storyboard

Favorite Quote of the Week:

“Any story worth its salt can handle a little shaking up.”-Salman Rushdie