Life of Leif: Feast Is Fun. Mosquitoes Are Not.

Today was the first half of a two-day virtues workshop for primary school teachers. It is interesting to see how Lynda uses a completely different teaching method each time she does the workshop. This is the third one I am part of. I took notes less on the presentation and more on my tangent trains of thought. Here's the good ones:

So you know you can't change another person or solve their problems (or I hope you do). The most you can do is try to understand them and encourage them to find a solution on their own. Advice might be appropriate, but is more important for the impetus and motivation to come from within. Sometimes I can be quick to give advice and not listen enough. (This is called spiritual companioning™. It's meant for children, but certainly has applications for other relationships.)
Expectations. In some conversations with friends at Green Acre this summer we concluded that it's best to not have expectations so you won't get disappointed when things don't do your way. (You won't get very excited about good thing either.) Makes for a dry existence, eh? As I revisit the subject, I think moderation should be mixed in. Expectations and hopes can give purpose and direction for yourself and perhaps, to a much lesser degree, for others we care about. Being free of expectations can suck some meaning out of like. So, now I believe it is important to have expectations for yourself, but not be attached to results.

Irishtown Primary School is in a tough neighbourhood with tons of crime and drug use, but you would never know that by looking at just the school. The children are all so well-behaved and kind andcourteouss and helpful and cute.

Cristina and I crammed to finish the newsletter in time for Feast tonight. It wasn't what we were hoping for, but it was a good start. We were all ready to print when Word crashed minutes before Feast was to start. It clearly wasn't meant to be finished tonight. [Edit: We definitely need to start planning ahead better. We should expect better form ourselves.]

Feast was great! Gene and Carla came with their respective children. We had some good planningconsultationn. I had a great time playing with the kids! They love playing with Cristina's or my camera.