My Fyshbowl Blog

 Before I ever became an educator I was called to encourage. So much of my teaching is rooted in a place of bringing hopefulness and inspiration. It does not matter whether I am working with preschool aged children or college students, the need for connection and motivation is necessary. People have a need to express themselves, to be heard, and acknowledged. By listening without judgement, we allow others to let us into their worlds where we can see who they are. In most of my experiences, people want to be heard and do not necessarily want input. We can simply validate their feelings by allowing them to express themselves and voice their truths. This is how trusting relationships are formed. By being present and open to seeing and hearing what is communicated, verbally or otherwise.  Being observant, a good listener, and discerning, is a skill that I was born with.Throughout my life these skills have helped me avoid many dangerous people and situations, while leading me wher...

If you do something for sixty-six days it will most likely become a habit. Sixty-six days, researchers say. Is this why I cry every day? I cannot remember a day that I did not cry over something. I fall sleep pondering issues of the world. What can be done to make improvements? I wake up to new additions to my list of things to analyze and correct. Where is my lane? Do I have just one lane or many?  Being human gives me all the permission necessary to have a heart towards all of humanity in its many forms. Although, we have one heart, there are multiple chambers, valves, and vessels, taking in and bleeding out. As with everything in our lives. We take in everything in our surroundings through our senses and try our best to make sense of the information. Some things bring us negative reactions while others, positive. Then there are the numerous stimuli that our spirits are unable to contain or define, so we reject those.  In times such as these, I become bot...

Why are people beautified, dressed in their "Sunday" best, placed in caskets they spend thousands of dollars on, only to be buried in the ground? Tombstones on plots of land memorializing bodies that have perished. Aren't our bodies mere shells of our existence? Haven't our souls and spirits left our bodies the moment we die? What better ways can we utilize money and land to memorialize our lives after death?  My understanding is that many practices continue simply because they are inherited, not understood or questioned.  Note: When I die, please donate my organs to save lives and any unused remains to science. My spirit will be long gone from my body and will serve no purpose lingering on this earth taking up physical space.  If the living want to remember me, then do just that, but from any location on the globe. I will not be looking down on this earth, watching over the living, I will be in paradise, living my best (after) life.  I cannot bec...

Where does this obsession with appearances come from? Our constant comparisons to others in not only our physical appearances, but also, materialistic, status, relational, and otherwise. Honestly, it baffles me. That is why I feel so oddly about this time of social media. I am who I am and look how I do. I do not care to take selfies with filters or post pictures boasting about my accomplishments or material objects. In an age of plastic surgery and filters, we are competing with unnatural expectations of beauty. I would much rather people see my heart and mind through my words and actions, than to care about what I look like, where I live, what I drive, or what I "do".  I am envious of every person that has high self-esteem and feels comfortable in their physical bodies. I have never been that person no matter what shape or age. This is what childhood neglect and abuse often does. I hate my body for the type of attention it invites. It does not matter how attractive...

The practice of stillness for me, is just that, practice. It is a task that I have yet to master. My mind, like my heart and lungs, continue to intake thoughts which endlessly beat around in my mind, causing havoc. Why must I be so observant and notice the smallest of details? These details then become additions to my never-ending wonderings. Why must everything be dissected and understood? Does everything really hold that much significance or any meaning at all?  A ladybug landing on my hand, a bird crapping on my head. The form of a tree and shadows. A stranger's glance, a wrong turn. Every past decision made, every future decision yet to be made. The photographic images, the conversations, and observations that continue to keep me up at night. Attempting to meditate, my mind wanders. Trying to pray, my mind wanders. My mind will not be still while reading or writing. Even in my sleep, my thoughts continue into my dreams. I am an over think...

                                                            Teaching with Love and Rebellion                                                    (2018  CA Teachers Summit EdTalk)   “I hate school. I hate teachers even more. They don’t care whether or not I learn any of their irrelevant information anyway, so why should I listen to them or even care about school? It’s obviously not meant for me.”    This is the recurring message that I’ve heard voiced in multiple ways from students in elementary through high school. For most of my own school years I felt the same way. But why,   why do so many students feel thi...

Sometimes things in our lives have to be completely ripped open, broken down, torn apart, or demolished for us to be forced to either release or rebuild. This is true for many areas of our lives from relationships, to jobs, and homes. Often, too many people continue merely existing in this world without the drive or push to change and improve our circumstances. We complain about our work, living situations, health, families, schools, finances, and just about everything.  Until something, such as a pandemic or natural disaster occurs and rocks our world upside down. Now, we are forced to look at our lives straight on and rethink ways of making changes.  So much in this world has remained neglected for far too long. This is why I believe that the recurring hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, and now a worldwide pandemic, are all trying to tell us something. Why do we remain so stubborn and deaf.  Since we refused to listen for so l...