National I Love My Feet Day is a time to use an ottoman and ponder the importance of caring for our feet – and how they support us in standing up for others. Upstanders are like mother birds to their little fledglings – – they spread their wings of protection and envelop those who need a mighty presence alongside them – to advocate and to support in times of need.

I like Irene Latham’s story about the staged offense in the park a few years ago, put together by actors just to see who all would step in to help. No one rushed right in, but finally someone stepped in with enough courage to face the perpetrator. Upstanders are courageous people who take risks on behalf of others.

I remember a time I needed an upstander to speak for me. I was concluding a semester’s work on my dissertation when I hadn’t heard from my URR (university research reviewer), despite my answers to the questions that he’d asked of me. I asked my chair what I should do, because another semester would be costly, financially and otherwise. She advised me to send one more email and to copy her on the email. We discovered that he had entered my email number incorrectly. Since my last name is Johnson, there were many of us with my exact name. He’d been emailing the Kim Johnson with a different number behind the name.

The short of the story is that even though we both politely explained his mistake, he would not back down. He was too proud to apologize and correct his action. My chair was my upstander in a difficult situation with a committee member who continued to act illogically. She took the matter to the university leaders to argue on my behalf, even as she had to continue to work with this committee member. Because of her actions, I moved forward and did not have to repeat the semester.

I’ve also had to act as an upstander. As a teacher, I am a mandated reporter – someone who makes a report if I suspect any type of child abuse or neglect. Even though it was hard to believe that what a student told me was true, I had to make a report. I did what I knew was the right thing – because the child needed an upstander. Several of her other teachers, I later learned, had also made reports on her behalf.

Doing the right thing is sometimes the most difficult thing to do, but it’s rewarding to know that we can make a difference for others when we have opportunities, and that when we need upstanders in our own lives, there are brave people who are willing to rise to their feet for us.

Who are your upstanders? Celebrate them today!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

It’s National Tell a Joke Day, and laughter is on the menu! Nonsense poetry is fun and light, whimsical in tone, and sometimes has made-up words. I wrote a nonsense poem as an introduction to the immersion into daily words in Dictionary for a Better World, the poetry form the authors introduce on this day of laughter. You can read it here.

I’m connecting strongly with Charles Waters’ moments when reading a poem has brought a smile to his face in those times that seem heavy. I, too, find that reading will lift me out of a fog and set the world back on its proper axis. When I need to hear the wisdom of the ages, I head through the doors off of my bedroom into my reading room. It’s my go-to place when the world or my attitude needs a change, and my books stand ready, marked to meet my needs. I go to my reading room for laughter, for hope, for help. When I’d rather listen instead of reading, Dear Poetry is a podcast featuring 8 episodes, hosted by Luisa Beck, whose goal is to use poetry to answer world problems shared by letter writers (a spin-off of Dear Abby, only using poetry as the answer).

When I need book laughter, I pick up Rick Bragg, David Sedaris, Bill Bryson, or Trevor Noah. The most side-splitting laughter is no further away than Chapter 3 – Pray, Trevor, in Born a Crime (there is a Young Adult version that scales back the language). Hearing the author read it on Audible is the cherry on top. The expertise of shopping for hiking gear and taking a donut-loving character like Katz along the Appalachian Trail puts me back on the path to loving life’s adventures with Bill Bryson, and sitting beside David Sedaris in his French class talking about global holiday traditions turns my tickle box upside-down. That scene in Travels with Charley by Steinbeck where he assures the park ranger that Charley will not raise the bears’ dander and vice-versa, then turns around and comes back to apologize to the ranger only after driving a few miles and discovering the truth about Charley, paints such a picture of the humor of animals and our underestimation of them that I sometimes laugh to the point of tears.

What are your favorite go-to books or poems for laughter? Indeed, it is the best medicine of all. Please share your top picks in the Padlet below.

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

National Lemon Meringue Pie Day is a delicious attitude toward life’s tough times. Tenacity is not for the soft-meringue of spirit. It’s holding on, despite all challenges. It’s our level of stick-to-it-ness – – our grip – – our ability to stay the course when the course seems dang near impossible.

In December 2021 when my father and brother came for a Christmas visit, Dad and I drove the short distance from my home to Warm Springs, Georgia to visit The Little White House and the pool where F. D. Roosevelt came to soak in the springs believed to hold healing properties for those with polio. I wrote a decima inspired by that visit that you can read here. Charles Waters and Irene Latham introduce this form on the Tenacity pages of Dictionary for a Better World.

After our tour of his home in Warm Springs, we stopped for lunch at The Bulloch House, a home-cooking restaurant in a historic building filled with pictures of the days that F D R visited the town. Southern cooking that comforts the soul is never as good as fried chicken, black-eyed peas, squash casserole, fried okra, and cornbread from The Bulloch House.

And then came dessert. The menu descriptions themselves are a certainty that diners will have dessert. I asked Dad what he wanted, and he didn’t hesitate.

“We’ll share a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie,” he told our server.

As our forks cut into this perfect-blend-of-tangy-sweetness on a plate, meringue curls perfectly browned, I wondered why I’d never taken the time to learn from my grandmothers how to create such a work of food art that requires a brown paper bag in an oven. Our coffee steamed in swirls hovering above our cups, dissipating heavenward, and as the festive sounds of forks on plates, clinking of ice cubes in tea glasses, and table conversations filled the space, I thought about this man, my father, whose hardheaded stubbornness I’d inherited honestly, and regretted the times I’d been such a pill for my parents. My parents pushed strongly encouraged me to get my doctorate, just as Dad had done. Without his strong will of tenacity, grit, perseverance, dedication, and hardheaded stubbornness, I would never have made it through my degree program. My mother died of Parkinson’s Disease in December 2015, ten months before I finished. I pushed ahead with a powerful pair of wings guiding my efforts, feeling her arms around my shoulders.

While others may disagree, I’m here to vow that all the lemons and learning of a doctoral program – and life itself – have far less to do with intelligence and far more to do with tenacity – holding on when every day brings tears, having all faith that there is a rainbow just up ahead, around the next bend.

So there we sat, eating lemon meringue pie in The Bulloch House, reflecting on life. It brings me to the Try It! section of today’s word, at the bottom of page 89. A vision board of goals is a great idea for moving from Aha! to Action! in taking the steps to realize dreams. All it takes is the vision, the tenacity, and the plan.

Watch Charles Waters recite his poem for Tenacity here.

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

National Creamsicle Day is the perfect day to let the dreamsicles melt and capture the stickiness of dreams. And is it creamsicle or dreamsicle? I’ve heard them called both.

On pages 24-27 of Dictionary for a Better World, the found poem featured is from chapter 1 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Found poems are created by selecting words from existing text – – much like those sticky splotches of melting creamsicles as the dreamy words drip onto the page — and they have so many different variations, from pulling words on a page of text to taking lines from different pages or poems. I love found poems so much that I started a bank of creamsicle stick lines of poetry using craft sticks in 2020 – and my bank has grown. On one side, I write a line of poetry; on the other, I write the title of the poem and the author’s name. Then I mash them up and call them mashed potato poems (the name dreamsicle poems sounds so much better, though). Once they are complete, I photograph both sides to give poets full credit for their lines – and I make a big deal about this with students, because it’s an opportunity to help them understand that words are to be shared, but ownership of expression matters.

I often search for lines on a theme, but other times I simply write lines that reach out to me. I plan to present this idea at a roundtable discussion at NCTE in Anaheim, California in November, so if you’re there, please come to my session table from 9:30-10:45 in Room 213-CD. I’m looking forward to being there with members of Dr. Sarah J. Donovan’s writing group at http://www.ethicalela.com, and they will also be sharing some amazing ways to write poetry with students (even reluctant writers). Students enjoy the creativity of writing found poems, so I use them in my writing groups frequently when I visit schools to write in small groups. Here is one I wrote for today:

The Dark Buds of Dreams

Please share your found poems in the Padlet below, or share the variations of found poetry that you use with students!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

International Left-Hander’s Day is the perfect opportunity to consider the ways that we practice being xenial.

According to http://www.merriam-webster.com, xe·​nial | \ -nēəl, -nyəl \ means : of, relating to, or constituting hospitality or relations between host and guest and especially among the ancient Greeks between persons of different cities. The illustrations on pages 102-103 of Dictionary for a Better World show a world of shoes – (including my favorite Birkenstocks in a color the warmth of sunshine). Desmond Tutu’s message that there are no outsiders in our world is fitting for the day! We all belong.

Today’s poetry prompt is other side poetry – a form that deals with anything on the other side – perspectives, viewpoints, afterlife, global places. You can watch Charles Waters recite his poem for Xenial here. Here is my other side poem:

Criss-Cross Jumprope

right hand washes left

left hand washes right

right brain talks to left

left brain talks to right

like a criss-cross jumprope

hands and brains hold world hope

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

No, it’s not Julianne’s Friday. Listen: It’s National Julienne Fries Day!

At the beginning of the year, I chose the word listen as my one little word of the year – not to be sure I was hearing words correctly, but that I was taking time to consider the ideas and thoughts of others – to let them resonate with me as I reflected and allowed myself to feel the impact of the weight of words.

In Dictionary for a Better World today, the tricube form of poetry is featured – three stanzas, three lines, and three syllables in each line. Back in November, Linda Mitchell from our writing group at http://www.ethicalela.com challenged us to write tricubes. Here is one I wrote about listening for words during a writers’ word drought.

River Tricube

when writing,
ride river
word rapids!

droughts will come
so will rains ~
levels change

when words flow
grab your pen: 
listen in! 

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

What’s more pliable or vulnerable than Kinetic Sand in the hands of a curious child? On Global Kinetic Sand Day, we’re challenged to let our guard down and be open to the wonder of experiences that are new to us, as we were when we were children.

The gogyoshi form in Dictionary for a Better World on page 96 is a 5-line poem without other rules. On July 21, I wrote a gogyoshi when Mo Daley, our host at http://www.ethicalela, introduced us to the form from this book. At the time, I had just helped rescue a dog who had been shot in the left foreleg (probably when chasing someone’s chickens) – a stray on the run who was vulnerable to the elements, the predators, and the people. My brother’s 14-year old dog had recently died, and he was ready for a new canine companion. He needed her as much as she needed him – the perfect match! Here is my gogyoshi from July:

A Better-Fragranced World

She throws a little weight

on her smoking-gunshot paw,

stops to smell the flowers

of a better-fragranced world!

Kasa ~ she’s home.

Update: Kasa is happy in her new home. She has received a clean bill of health from her vet – no intestinal worms or heartworms, and she has been spayed, gotten all her shots, had a dental cleaning, and has healed from her wound. She can run on the beach. She goes to work with her master and has made friends in the local dog park – and when they get home after a fun outing, she protests getting out of the car. Sometimes vulnerability brings miracles – it sure brought this miracle pairing of two hearts who found happiness together!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

National S’mores Day brings to mind times around the campfire – – times we share with others, fellowshipping with good food and stories to refuel our spirits as we toast marshmallows and melt chocolate over graham crackers. There’s no better way to connect with the outdoors than sleeping right up under the stars!

Today’s poetry form on page 40 is a cherita, which tells a story in three stanzas of one, two, and three lines.

Campin’ Dogs

“Where are the campin’ dogs?” we ask, and they come running, ready to go.

Ollie first, then Fitzie, then Boo, bounding the stairs into the camper

knowing there’ll be dog-watching, maybe even a pink poodle

And off we go, camper hitched, ready to relax, fireside,

under the stars, fairy lights dancing in the trees like fireflies

~re-kindling, refueling our kumbayah souls

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

On National Book Lover’s Day, pause. Read. Reflect. Let the words and meaning seep into your life and change your world. Today’s word in Dictionary for a Better World, pause, does not come naturally to me. I make daily lists of what all I need to accomplish, and I hyper-focus on the next checklist item rather than enjoying each moment along the way. I need to be more intentional about taking the time to pause, to breathe, and to laugh.

The poetic form featured on page 70 is a limerick, a humorous poem which has five lines with an aabba rhyme scheme.

Pauseth

to pauseth and readeth a book

is to calmeth a world that once shook

when we crawleth in bed

stories filleth our head –

we dreameth, awaketh: look! look!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

It’s National Happiness Happens Day.

On this day of practicing the active, intentional verb reach, I recognized the artwork by Michelangelo on pages 70-71 of Dictionary for a Better World, and it took me straight back to a day many years ago when my parents visited the middle school where I was teaching at the time. We were walking through the office, where the hands depicted in The Creation of Adam hung over a desk.

“So,” my Dad asked me as he gestured toward the divine image, “Which hand is God’s, and which hand is Adam’s?”

I’d taken art history in college, but I’d never truly studied this painting, and in the absence of the full image, I wasn’t prepared for the trivia question Dad was asking, especially where others were taking notes of our interaction and waiting for my response.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“Look,” he said, “Do you see the hand that is more purposefully reaching, there on the right? That’s God’s hand.”

The painting came to life in that moment, and what I hadn’t seen before, I saw. In July 2019, I got to see it in person when I visited the Sistine Chapel and stared in awe at the ceiling. There are no words to describe the feeling of being there in that sacred space.

Living and connection begin when we take the initiative to reach out. It’s a choice we make. Just like Irene Latham, I am an introvert. Reaching out in a face to face world does not come naturally to me. I’d rather dwell in my quieter world of reading and writing, with a slight buffer zone of physical distance from others way back in the woods of the rural countryside in Georgia. Here in the digital realm, I am more likely to reach out with words and stories. Today, I’ll answer the call to action and practice reaching out in my daily interactions – – and I will also observe to see who may be reaching out to me for a response.

On Happiness Happens day, I’ll purposefully reach out and smile. I’ll make happiness happen.

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.