I was never good at Math;
I’m still not. . .
and some have actually said,
“It’s because you never applied yourself!”
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. . .
Maybe
but
THEY SAY
Math is pure
and it explains everything. . .
T H E Y
don’t know
e v e r y t h i n g. . .

5 + 4 = 9
but so does
6 + 3
and
8 + 1
or even
10 – 1
and many more options
so how exact is Math;
HOW PURE. . . ?
and more:
WHO IS RIGHT?

W a i t. . .
W h a t. . .
are we talking about Math,
a n y m o r e

S O M E T I M E S
the things
that aren’t so
E X A C T
that can’t be
F I G U R E D
give you the most wonderful
a n s w e r s
without showing your work
( but actually/factually living IT )
How about them, Apples?

Hey. . .
How’s
YOUR
M A T H
. . .go figure!

I’ve known Stephanie Jessup most of her life
and she never ceases to amaze me. . .
Among her many talents,
The Tsunami she is has washed up on the many different shores
of her students at Medina High School
where she is a ASL Teacher. . .

Every year Stephanie’s class presents a song
she and the students have worked endless hours
so that others can not just see
so that others can not just hear
so that others can ACTUALLY EXPERIENCE. . .

This year they chose the song,
“WAVING THROUGH A WINDOW”
from the 2017 Tony Award Winning Show:
DEAR EVAN HANSEN

SOMETIMES
THE GREATEST SOUND
YOU CAN EVER MAKE
IS NEVER HEARD
. . .BUT FELT

KUDOS
To Mrs. Stephanie Jessup
and the students of Medina High School
ASL I, II, and III. . .
You’ve done far more than
C O M M U N I C A T E D
(loud and clear)

NO WORDS:
s o m e t i m e s
the best words
are those
never spoken
b u t
intimately
H E A R D

At best.          .          .

I might have met him only once or twice.            .            .

At best.          .          .

I might’ve had the cordial

‘how are you’

‘it’s nice to meet you’

exchanges.            .            .

At best.          .          .

I was nonchalantly looking through Instagram and saw Jake Nicolella’s random photograph of a seemingly ordinary subway ride in New York City with the follow captioned thoughts:

“This world.  Right now.  There are trees turning orange with the fall, and trees that will remain lush year around.  There are old men biding time in the mall food court reminiscing about what was, and teenagers infinitely scrolling, dreaming about what’s next.  Right now.  Existing in this moment.  There are grandmothers, friends, hopes and lessons to be learned.  There are people you will never know, or even think to know, made up of all the same flesh, time, and wonder that brought you to this moment.  Right now.  There are small, enraged men with weapons of war and fear in their hearts.  Compelled to take lives that  were never worth that fear and never theirs to take.  Again and again and again.  The ripple of their actions will cascade pain for generations  Right now.  Fear disguised as patriotism.  Fear sold as justice.  Fear burnt ass red hot fuel to beget more fear.  But right now.  There is also the last car on the M train at 6:58 pm.  There are two men.  There is a mother.  Her seven-month-old baby.  A group of high school students.  There is a shared moment that lets me know that fear has no chance.  That fear has no place here in this moment.  There are eight lives intersecting from different points of origin, heading toward unknown and likely different terminuses, and everything is going to be okay. Here.  Right now.  Everything has got to be okay.”

Being a Caring Catalyst

 means caring enough about others

that you’re always willing to be a pupil as you become teacher.          .          .

No matter who a professor might be,

or what the lesson might be taught,

If you always care enough to be taught

care enough to learn the lessons in the

o r d i n a r y

see what only an unsuspecting other

can show you.          .          .

then you’ll have found the cure for blindness

.        .        .A T      B E S T

Sometimes the best way

to see anything in another way

is through another’s eyes

and then

ONLY    IF    YOUR’S    ARE

O P E N       E N O U G H

to not only see

but  understand
what  you  are  viewing.       .       .
R  I  G  H  T       N  O  W

Thank you, Jake Nicolella

for showing us all that

t      h      o      s      e

who   hold   the   light

prospered from the one

who   supplied   the 
m           a           t           c           h

]]> http://thecaringcatalyst.com/seeing-another-way/feed/ 2 3740 http://thecaringcatalyst.com/perfectly-imperfect/ http://thecaringcatalyst.com/perfectly-imperfect/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2014 11:45:53 +0000 http://thecaringcatalyst.com/?p=742

Are you Perfect?

I am.

Pristine. Unadulterated. Pure. Faultless–ME!

Perfectly IMPERFECT!

You?

The Teacher Knows.

The story goes, not so Once-Upon-A-Time, but currently, when a Rabbi, The Teacher, prayed daily that God would make a perfect world in which there would never be any hatred, jealously, pain or problems.

Well, wouldn’t you know, one night, God appeared to the Rabbi, The Teacher in a dream and took him on a wonderful tour of any absolutely, magnificently uncorruptable World.

P E R F E C T

The Rabbi, The Teacher, saw his house, his synagogue, his little town. Lions and lambs were actually laying down together.

P E A C E F U L

Still, this Rabbi, The Teacher was troubled. Something, something was terribly absent…MISSING!

“Where am in in this Perfect World,” the Rabbi, The Teacher asked, wanted…needed to know?

God offered the most apologetic answer, ever: “This is a perfect world you requested. You must understand that you are NOT PERFECT, so you cannot be included.”

We are NEVER just one thing in Life, are we?

We are all so very PLURAL and never so SINGULAR.

But one thing, one thing through all of these Personas, through all these changes, through all our ages, our comings/goings, stayings/leavings, pasts/presents/futures remains the same, doesn’t it?

We–everyone one of us–are undeniably, immaculately, impeccably, PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.

It helps, doesn’t it, with the WHY’S, the HOW-COME’S, the WHAT-FOR’S?

Expecting the world, this world of August 20, 2014 to treat us fairly because we are nice, caring, compassionate, PERFECTLY IMPERFECT People is like expecting a Bull not to gore us just because we are vegetarians.

Are you Perfect?

I am.

So are you.

We, we are PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.