I would have been some sort of a scientist.  I would have been the same, inquisitive person that I am now, but with fewer answers and resources.  There would have been plenty of opportunities for me to discover and explore and to make sense out of the unknown.  That sounds like such fun! 

As a teacher, I'm always in school.  I have my Master's degree, and really should go for my Sixth-year degree, but something about having to be the student has kept me from returning to the classroom for more post-graduate education. 

Let's just pretend, for a moment, that I wasn't a teacher.  Aside from the obvious choice of going back to school to study photography, I'd have to say that I really wished that I had spent more time studying the piano.  From time to time I sit down and play, but so much of what I used to know is now gone.  I should have stuck with it, but life took over.  I still have a piano and I still play.  I'm just not living up to my potential. 

George Winston - Reflection
Watch, listen, enjoy...

A tugging at my heartstrings,
    whispers of having been there before...
  Watching, listening, feeling, projecting, reflecting, absorbing...
fear of ever having to stand in those painful shoes.
             Having swallowed that bitter pill before, never wanting to swallow one again.
Those things create empathy.
        It's that hollow feeling inside,
   sometimes a longing...
Feeling like someone took your breath away when you least expected it
    Seeing, feeling, connecting...
            Walking two moons in another's moccasins and finally knowing, grasping and understanding.
An open door, an open mind, an open heart... all of these create empathy.
   Empathy happens when you internalize what you see or hear.  It is that one ray of light in a grey place.  A connection, a feeling, a pulse...  It's the place where you find it difficult to look toward or away from something - having been there before, or imagining how painful it would be to go through a similar experience.  That's where empathy is born.
Hugs!
-Susan

     My initial response was to shout out that life is all about color... splashy reds, yellows and oranges dotted with blues, greens and purple, but then I took a step back.  Color is often times so taken for granted.  It is also the space between... the muted and washed out colors that fill in the gaps.  The greys, taupes, blacks and whites... the russets and the browns with washed out blue jeans mixed in for good measure.  I think this photo best illustrates what I am trying to say. 
     Yes, the bright, loud colors are fun to play with and fun to be around, but at the end of the day, it is the muted colors that are found in the space between.  It's those "space between" colors that can paint a picture as amazing as all of those bright can.  Don't overlook the space between colors... I know that in rushing, sometimes I do.
Hugs!
-Susan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvkX3t5LgVI

There's a place where fresh water meets salt water...
The rich, brackish water is a place where many animals come to
    feed,
       rest,
         mate,
            raise young,
                and perhaps, just drink in the view.
That is where I have found contentment day after day... morning after morning.  I never get tired of letting it wash over my soul, for the view is never the same from one day to the next.

     When my body needs healing, like now, the most healing place for me is in bed, with my faithful cat of 15 years, curled up next to me.  She knows what I need.  She curls up next to me and purrs.  She passes the time with me.  Karl's homemade chicken soup is also an important ingredient for getting better.
     When my heart or my mind needs healing, I head outside.  The woods, Long Island Sound, the dock.  Those places are magical.  The birds call and dance and float on air effortlessly.  The light changes constantly as it filters through the sky and through the tree branches.  The water and the woods, they soothe me.  Whether it's the crackle of leaves beneath my feet or the shifting sand and the jingling of tiny shells as I walk, those sounds wash over me and bring me back to an okay place.
 

     Community plays a huge role in my life.  It is probably the one thread that ties everything together.  First of all, as a teacher, I am part of a large community of students and their families.  We are all one big extended family.  I can not, nor do I wish to separate myself from them.  I get to know my students and their parents.  I even get to know siblings who are too young to go to our school.  The look on the little one's faces as I greet them too, well, that's just priceless.  For me, working with a member of my school neighborhood community is not just a one shot deal.  I'm planting life long seeds and I let my students know that I'll always be watching.  I'll be their biggest fan when their moment of greatness arrives!
     Yesterday, Davindra, one of my former students walked by the school at dismissal time.  He gave me a huge hug.  Davindra had been my student in fourth grade and now he was in eleventh grade.  Wow, time sure flies.  That seems like yesterday!  We chatted about how he was doing and about how his mom and sister were.  He had stopped by to tell me that he had gotten a job.  I love it!  The media specialist was also there, and in a rather snyde way, she inquired about why he had come by.  "Daviindra was a student of mine.  He came by because I'm the best teacher he ever had."  I said jokingly.  At that moment, Davindra turned to me and put his arm around me.  "You are the best teacher that I ever had.  Really.  You and one teacher that I have now.  You are the two best teachers ever!"  It hit me at that moment... community, a family, people working together, they are all powerful and beautiful things.
     I always get to know my neighbors.  I have also encouraged my daughters and Karl to get to know them too.  Some of them are quriky, but we've all got quirks.  I've come to find out that they will be there for me the same way that I'm there for them.  Karl and I were recently moving a mattress into the house.  Our neighbor, Ron, stopped by, said hi and immediately took over my role as mattress mover.  Getting to know my neighbors is a community building staple that my parents instilled in me.
     Last, but not least, is my family community.  Karl, the girls, the cats, the ferrets and I have come together as a family.  It isn't always easy, but we're trying.  Both of the girls are involved in sports and it's so cute to see them loving (and sometimes hating) it.  I stay in close contact with my younger brother, as he lives closer, and we visit often.  I talk to my older brother when I can, but he has a job that's a little crazy.  We're planning the 5 hour drive up to see him and his family next summer.
     Yes, community is big for me.  The small parts coming together to make something bigger.  Getting to know the people that I see and pass by every, single day.  Taking away the anonymity in life and filling it up with friendship.