In thinking about next steps, it occurred to me recently that I have not blogged on here for almost one year. ONE YEAR. A year ago I completed the NYC marathon, many hours after it had started, well into the late hours. Project finish was there and is a wonderful thing for back of the packers as I was when I was running. (or shuffling????). https://www.instagram.com/projectfinishnyc/ I would encourage you to check them out if you are not familiar with them as they do amazing things and were wonderful as we crossed the finish line after many hours of shuffling our way through NYC.
In Any Case…
I was shocked by not having blogged in so long and yet at the same time not shocked. I have to be in a certain mental space to get my thoughts out on paper, let alone share it on the internet. That can be daunting enough.
I set out to first think about blogging again. What would I blog about? What interests people? Will people want to read anything I have written when we have far more pressing issues going on in the world today?
Today I took a leap of faith and I took the first step. Here I am.
A lot can change in one year. I decided to take a good look at what was important to me, what my background consists of, and where am I. I mean, I’m not getting any younger.????
Where To?
With all that in mind I took some time to really think about what my first steps could be. Above all, I had already gotten thinking so that to me was a good first step. Then, I had to think about next steps.
What Now?
With this in mind, I decided to go back to doing some teaching. Having taught at various universities in the past. I am now an adjunct once again at Montclair State, where I graduated from and met my husband many years ago (I told you, I am unsure of who reads this so I can’t say exactly how many years.) ????
I also decided that I wanted to go back to my Correctional routes and listened one evening to a podcast by Dan Slepian called Letters from Sing Sing. https://www.nbcnews.com/letters-from-sing-sing-podcast It was here that I heard an incredible story (I would highly encourage those of you not familiar with this podcast to listen.) It was here that I learned of Hudson Link https://hudsonlink.org/ and took a chance and reached out to them with a very earnest interest in teaching in Sing Sing Prison.
Putting it Together…
The next steps evolved and I became an adjunct with Mercy University /https://www.mercy.edu/ and now teach in Sing Sing prison.
With that in mind, I am continuing my practice https://imagineyourbestself.com. I revised some hours. The roots of my career were thought about. Time was spent thinking about what would happen if I took a chance on my past experiences. They could mesh together.
My next steps have been pretty unbelievable. When I go to Sing Sing and teach, a part of me comes alive. A resurrection of parts of me which I thought were over, a part of my past somehow. All from listening to a podcast, hearing one man’s life story, and taking a chance on the many years of practice I have been in and building on my strengths.
Summing up, you don’t have to write the whole story, taking the first step can make the difference.
All the best,
Alicia
