Board. Awaiting Bulletins. Took 10 Minutes Today to Make Part of Canisius Hall More Welcoming (Blanked-Out by Covid))

I'm getting used to the patterns of my hallway, knowing when I will see Ryan, Tracy, and Erica, and sometimes others. There's never been a memo or explanation, but before Covid many of our stored items went missing as they redid windows, tiles, and ventilation systems. We boxed things up. Some of us had items returned. Before we shut down, our hallway was recreated aesthetically so it was a more enjoyable space. Since we've been back, however, it was stripped down to the bare minimum. No one knows where any of the materials in our hallway disappeared to: photos, artwork, decorations, etc. It's just been generic and uninviting. 

Last night, with 10 minutes to spare before class, I decided to add color, flavor, and beginning funk to the cork board outside my office. My motto is joy and rejuvenation, and although others may still be absent, I'd like to have life in our shared spaces for the time when everyone is back. 

There are 7 of these cork boards, and with 10 minutes a week, I figured I can return life to our corridor over the next 7 weeks. I have scrapbooks from summer programs and hope to bring joy and possibility to the days still to come, including the fact that I hung the box of cards I've been mailing recently: The Happiest People Don't Have the Best of Everything; They Just Make the Best of Everything. 

I also put up a Buddha gifted to me from Bich Nguyen from way back when and the Vicki Soto ribbon and number from this past weekend's 5K. I just want to walk down the hallway and feel a more welcoming atmosphere. I'll add more CWP items once the weeks get going. I went with a wood theme, because that is what I had. I'll save the mermaids and sea creatures for my colleagues.

Sometimes, I just don't understand work spaces and their intentional desire to be institutionally drab and uninviting. If I wanted to live a prison life, I'd get myself thrown into a penitentiary. 

I want to work, though, where there's vibrancy, purpose, talent, and ... joy. A simple theme, really. Something besides institutionally-bulk Whiteness....