And on This Friday Morning, I'm Thinking Again About Bridges and Roads, Possibilities and Stories, Because...Well, I Can

Last night, I sat in a room with educators across the United States joining me on a project that includes Felicia Rose Chavez's The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop and our intentional desire to bring the conversation to K-12 schools as a team of National Writing Project and Literacy Leaders. I knew I had a surprise for the team of educators across the United States - the author actually surprised us by coming to join us last night. Of course I knew she was coming, but I was so impressed I pulled the surprise off. It was an amazing 70-minutes, and I was so grateful for the love-fest she created, and joy that Chavez's book is helping us to create...a more just, equitable, and anti-racist intention for our work. More than her expertise over us (which is bountiful), I think our enthusiasm worked to counter the negativity that has come her way...a bit of surprise. 

I filled pages and pages in my notebook of what teachers and the author were saying, but also sat to embrace all the expertise that was in the room. The collective is stronger than the silos we typically create.

Meanwhile, on Facebook, Ann E. Burg's interview on The Write Time debuted, and I'm thankful to Tanya Baker for being online for itt to manage the conversation. We pre-recorded, so it looked like I was live (but I was actually in a private session working through Chavez's work). I didn't know if I'd be able to make the evening possible, but it all worked out!

And I was thinking of a mentor who once said, "Crandall. You're meant to be a bridge, sir. Not a road. Not a path. But a bridge. You have a ridiculous ability to bridge worlds and unite communities. That's you're calling. "

Which is weird, because yesterday's EthicalELA prompt got me to rethink fatherhood in a way I never thought about before. Simply looking at a moment to see something as an influence you never knew was there was a great way to explore a single moment in time. After writing, I realized that the prompt was actually therapeutic, and helped me to discover realities I didn't even know were there. The end result - epiphanies for a lifetime.

Love.

Beauty. 

Appreciation.