More cleaning connections

Our mini-bios that we shared on Tuesday at faculty meeting have produced fruit, at least for me. Besides a new relationship to Aaron (who is almost exactly Bartzy's age) and a "Mennonite" connection to Kathy A., there are the cleaning connections and offers I mentioned before. Now Michael O has come to me with questions. He has moved into a neglected house in Seton Village and wanted some insight into elementals etc. Of course I know almost nothing, but I did give him the Linda Thomas article.

Just this mornng I came across a wonderful quotation which might fit into my article. It is a message from the Mock Orange Deva as conveyed by Dorothy Maclean in her book To Honor the Earth, p.20.

What fun life is! For us, to hold each little atom in its pattern is to hold it in joy. We see you humans at times glumly encountering experience, doing things because they have to be done. We marvel that your sparkling life could be so filtered down and disguised. Life is abundant joy. Each little bite of a caterpillar into a leaf is done with more zest than we sometimes feel in you humans. We would love to shake the sluggishness out of you and have you see life as bright and blooming, waxing and waning, eternal and one.

First faculty meeting August 2008

Well, this was an auspicious meeting. After a rousing get-together with singing and greeting each other, we spent considerable time introducing ourselves to the whole group. The format was - past, present,future - in 2 minutes. Needless to say, not everyone kept it to two minutes, but the self -intros WERE pretty short.

Many were light-hearted or even funny. Mine was not. (I was close to the end, when we were encouraged to be even shorter.)

It was the first time in the whole group that I alluded to Bart's death. And I also made a quasi-announcement that I was going to try to finish my master's project. On cleaning!

It has taken two years, but I am beginning to feel a part of the group.

Jennie Baudhuin (whose birthday is today!) told me that Eugene Schwartz has been VERY BIG on cleaning in the classroom. She will talk to me.

Early Childhood idea - let's get together and do a deep cleaning of each of our classrooms!

The official cleaners seem not to have done a very good job this time around. What to do?

More elementals

They're popping up everywhere! I have to get serious here.

First day back - a College meeting for 4 hours (my eyes are spinning widdershins) after an early morning meeting with Jill and Jennie. At least I am being treated as an equal, which is vastly interesting. Well, maybe not an equal. It's like there is no precedence for this - two leads and an assistant. Treated with respect, and I am grateful. (And separate but equal. I can buy that.)

At any rate, we all came into the meeting not know what the constellation would be, and we ended in agreement that I would stay with Desert Rose Kindergarten and Annie would join Jennie in Woods Rose (or whatever she might decide to name it.)

There is all sorts of dirt lying around down in the K where malevolent elementals may be brooding. Something must be done.

References to the elementals, and more

I am really hoping to do reading - and deep experiencing - to begin to have a conscious relationship to the elementals. Holly suggested yesterday in our talk that the insides of cupboards need also to be clean and orderly. When there is a deep sense of order, when the usefulness and purposefulness of the material world are acknowledged with appreciation, then the elemental beings are happy to work with us. (I hope I am not misquoting - I don't have it exactly)

So... longer ago I asked Natale Adams and also Eugene Schwartz about Steiner lectures that referred to the elementals. Natalie mentioned the lecture cycle Man as Symphony of the Creative Word and Eugene refered me to The Spiritual Heirarchies.

Whoa. Every door that I open leads to worlds behind the doors.

OK. Part of keeping a journal (did I say this already?), per suggestion of Holly, is to notice how consciousness at school begins to affect one's awareness at home. (I am glad Holly confessed to me that she has not always been as diligent at home as she has been at school, but that this imbalance has pretty much evened out for her.)

Well, besides buying two new brooms (one for home and one for school) and a red and a blue whisk broom for school, I have been starting to declutter the clothes closet and clean. I have also given the glassed-in portale a good sweep on the floor - lots of cobwebs and woolies and cat hair had collected in corners and on electric cords etc.

Ricardo has given me a good suggestion that I need to ponder. I wonder if I can team up with one of the grade's teachers (Danelle comes to mind) to do some deep cleaning in that classroom. How to observe potential effects would be the trick.

Now i am going to practice adding an image,

Re-embarking on the voyage of my master's project

I have until the end of July, 2009, to write up my master's project on Cleaning in the Kindergarten. I had decided to bag it, but I have changed my mind.

I talked to Holly today, and she encouraged to me to give it a swing.

She was glad I was familiar with Linda Thomas , whose article was so inspiring to me. She urged me to try to get in touch with her.

Also, I need to read about the elementals, especially in relationship to cleaning.

And she also encouraged me to keep a journal, which I will try to do here. ONWARDS.

Getting Ready for Seattle/Orcas Island

Filling up the ollas and emptying out the fridge. (Well, I am obviously leaving things in the fridge, but I would rather not have things moldering if I know Ricardo won't cook with them.) Yikes. The time has zoomed passed and now I must go to bed. Our guest and we watched "Becoming Jane " together = quite, quite poignant.