EveryMoment: a blog, a video blog, a photo blog and any other type of log of the life of tracy apps. every moment in life is a gift

who does this?

so i’m sitting in a marquette university classroom waiting for a class to start

i know what you are thinking… “i thought she was done with college” and “hey.. didn’t she go to uwm for college?” yea. both of those are true. but i’m ‘sitting in’ for a class taught by the one and only michele korb. i get to see first hand the people she mentions… put a face to those papers that i see her grading…. and see micki in “her element.”

i’m excited to be in a class… and not have any stress about it. i don’t have to worry about being tested… or to make sure i get all the notes i need… etc. this is the kind of school i like… (and no.. sitting here in this chair with the fold-up desk arm on the side doesn’t make me miss college or feel like i need to go back to school. it actually makes me feel the opposite. i’m happy to be out of school. an occasional visit is fine… but taking classes… nope.

this makes me think about what we do to understand a piece of those we love. do you ever notice how people act or even how they look when they are doing what their passion is? have you ever seen a friend or family member truly “in their element?” i remember a couple different stories of seeing people be truly themselves… or at least getting a glimpse of that. one in particular that happened just a couple months ago when i went down to chicago to go dancing. we went out to funky buddha’s in downtown chicago with sunitha. i’m sure i’ve talked about sunitha before… but she’s one of the wisest people i know. she is originally from india and has an amazing ability to listen and learn about people and their interactions with each other. plus she is very aware of culture and it’s effect on people and their actions, especially since she is living in the united states but looking at the american ‘culture’ from the lens of another culture. i enjoy every conversation that i get to share with her and have learned so much from her. well one thing about this amazing woman of God is her dancing. she has shared with us several different dances from her own culture. it was amazing to see her come to life and move so freely. i could tell there was a different “presence” to her when she was dancing. well that night at the funky buddha was no different. the music played… more and more people filed into that little club.. filled the dance floor… and suddenly i saw sunitha’s spirit run wild. it was an amazing sight and it made me want to let go of whatever was holding me back to follow my passions with that same energy.

so right now.. there is a group presenting chapters 5 and 6 from their texts…. michele is in ‘teacher mode’ and diligently taking notes about her students presentation. you know.. i wonder how aware these students are of their teacher? how aware was i when i was in class? i don’t think i truly understood or even cared when i was in school. i was too wrapped up in the anxiety and nervousness of “passing the class” and getting good grades. there were few teachers that i really remembered as standing out. and now i realize why they stood out. they were doing what their passion was… and their spirit was truly set free. whenever we are doing what means so much to us… when we are truly following our passion… other people can’t HELP but notice and be effected in some way by it. when we have teachers who truly share this passion, we as the student can’t help but learn something. no matter our profession or place in life… if we follow that passion… people sit up and notice.

following our heart changes how we look at life… and how we look in life.

so.. maybe we will look different if we are truly following our passions and desires? would that make us weird or ‘out of place’? a part of the american culture is all about “being different”… so why is it a scary thing to be different from other people? i know from personal experience that being different and ‘standing out’ is scary because of expectations. you know the quote “with great power comes great responsibility”… well i think that’s very true and can be terrifying at the same time. so now that we stand out… people are watching us… what do we have to say now? what are we going to do? it’s like we are on stage and the spotlight is on us… now … entertain everyone. ready, set, go. everyone’s watching…. this better be good.

but we are all there at some point. we all have the ability to follow our passions and do great things. but what if we fail? is that reason enough to not even step out and try? i think not. so what’s stopping us from ‘looking different’

ok. now the group is still presenting… and the guy is talking about liver.

wow. this is a really random entry.

and now i’m home and gonna post this.. and since it’s so stinkin’ long i’m gonna post pictures that i took with my camera phone during the class throughout the enrty. hhokay?

Current Mood:  chipper

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