making meaning out of words



Simple words that hold big meaning.  Mahatma Gandhi's words have echoed through the decades and inspired leaders and citizens to strive for peace in times where there was little to be found.  While I am no world leader or tenacious activist, I have drawn upon Gandhi's words as one source of encouragement as I move on to the next chapter in my life's adventure.  

Tomorrow I will begin the long journey to a "Haven of Peace" at the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project in Bangalore, India.  It is here that I will experience India for the first time, a journey I have been yearning to take since I was a young girl.  It is here that I will experience what it is like to live with just the essentials.  It is here that I will test out how many days I can get away with using dry shampoo, even though I think I have already mastered that skill.  It is here that I will face challenges I have yet to concoct in my mind, and I have an active imagination.  It is here that I will discover aspects of myself I never knew existed.  

I am anything but a wordsmith.  I write like I talk.  Run-on sentences galore, one-liners that I think are funny, stories that were maybe connected to the original topic of conversation, and a whole lot of laughter.  

The idea behind this blog came from a desire to chronicle my time volunteer teaching this summer and share my experiences with colleagues, family, and friends.  I do not know what this summer will bring, but I will be sharing it here as often as I can.  

As noted previously, I am not an eloquent writer and I cannot fathom how to craft words that accurately describe how I am feeling at this moment.  However, I am an avid reader and I often find words to describe my experiences in the books I read.  

"In hindsight, I think we all protect ourselves from that which is too difficult to know.  But that excuse is just that...In comparison, I am weak.  For all the beliefs I had of my own strength, it is humbling to know I am severely lacking.  As a citizen of the world and as a woman, I can only strive to do better.  What that means is still a mystery, but I'll take the first step of this journey in anticipation of where it leads.  Along the way, I may learn a thing or two."
Sejal Badani ~ The Storyteller's Secret


Read more about the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project here. 

Thank you to the Brookline Education Foundation for supporting my endeavors.

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 24, 2019 at 4:51 PM

    Yah! Can't wait to follow you this summer. Safe travels Gabby!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Occasional BloggerJune 24, 2019 at 7:39 PM

    I am proud of what you are about to embark on. This endeavor fits your nurturing nature. It will not only be adventurous but also fulfilling. I have no doubt you will get as much out of it as the children you will be working with. I know you will give it your all, but don't forget to have fun!
    -Your dad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 25, 2019 at 9:18 AM

    Best of luck! I am so excited to see all the work you do. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. MaggieJune 26, 2019 at 11:34 AM

    Hope traveling went well, Gab! Can't wait to read all about your trip! XO

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

teaching is learning

Image
It is hard to believe that I will be home in a month.  It is even harder to believe that I have been in India for just over a month.  I have learned more than I could ever have imagined in a matter of 30-something days.  A few of the lessons I have learned so far...    Joy exists everywhere, you have to be willing to see it! There are many things that I have come to appreciate about a simpler life that I was initially very overwhelmed by. Take hand-washing my clothes. Whenever I buy a garment that is marked hand-wash only , I bring it to the dry cleaner after a certain amount of wears and then I pick it up a few days later without giving it any thought.  While I brought zero garments marked hand-wash only with me to Shanti Bhavan, all of my garments have been hand-washed.  At first, I hated this task and I remember reflecting with a fellow volunteer that my dryer in Boston runs for 60-minutes while here I spend 60-minutes physically scrubbi...
Read more

Settling In

Image
I have been in India now for 4 days.  After a long and emotional journey, I touched down in Bangalore at 2:30 in the morning.  I nervously walked through immigration and grasped onto my passport as sleepily I went through security to make my official entry into India.  There's no way to describe how I felt walking through the airport to baggage claim then out into the city with no WiFi, but I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw a driver waiting for me, the first person who greeted me in this country.  Despite my zombie state, I was wide awake the whole 2-hour drive to my final destination, in awe of what little I could see of this country from the backseat of the car.  To summarize, I saw construction lights that hung to illuminate people's homes, roadside shrines to various Hindu gods, chai waalers setting up their stands, and about 30 stray dogs along the way. Embracing the forced opportunity to observe the breeze... I am settling in well.  ...
Read more

Thoughts on Privilege

Image
Privilege.  It can be contorted into such a dirty word.  If anyone dares to point out our privilege, we are immediately put on the defensive.  I have to admit, I have been one of those people who would be highly offended if someone were to call me privileged.  This has slowly been shifting though, as I have chosen to change the lens at which I look at privilege through. I have been granted many privileges in my life.  The cornerstone of this privilege is that I do not need to think about my privilege unless I choose to do so. There have been times I have felt undeserving about the privileges I have received as I have not earned them.  Instead of feeling bad about my privilege, I can acknowledge it, and use it to support those who have not seen the same privileges. Last week we hosted nearly 100 journalism students on campus.  They toured the campus, observed classes, and asked poignant questions during a Q & A session.  At one point,...
Read more