My Dad and more……..

29 Jan 2008 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in International Travels, Reflections

My father is very ill and in the last stages of his life, as we know him. I began to think about my father’s illuminated life full of wisdom and generosity. He centered his life on his family, his business and his community. He has always been generous and fair-minded. He obtained the goals and objectives he set for his life through hard work and perseverance. I love him and I am proud of him.

My father’s family originated in a shtetl called Grodno on the border of Poland and Russia. His father’s father left there and arrived in the late 1800, early 1900’s in New York. My great grandfather was a peddler. More

Who Are You Without Your Computer?

24 Jan 2008 5 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Reflections

I have read several different Gurus’ on self-processing and they profess that if you process down to where you can hear your own blood pumping, you have created fertile ground in which to do self-processing work. In accessing the level of hearing your own blood pump through your body, you begin to think of things you might ordinarily not contemplate.

Today I decided to quiet myself down until I could hear my life force, my blood pumping in my ears. I didn’t have to sit quietly very long because I heard it. It was my own heart beating, pumping. I have heard it before, but didn’t really take the time to think that it is my body talking to me. I am a jumpy person and have to be up doing and saying something, or do I? More

The Dead Mouse: For Real

24 Jan 2008 2 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Trials and Tribulations

I have re-thought my thinking on shopping. I have re-thought my personal ban on goods from other countries, my self-inflicted austerity program on being too much of a consumer and decided to bite the bullet and go shopping. In doing so, I thought I would go to some unique and unusual stores in an area of town I usually do not frequent, but have always wanted to become familiar. I moved rapidly through the stalls because at this point, I needed to find a restroom. I asked and was guided to the very back of the building. I entered the stalls designated for women. I began the process of readying oneself for the act. More

VOTE FOR YOURSELF.

18 Jan 2008 3 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Trials and Tribulations

First of all I want to thank Johnny Blake for not violating me in the ninth grade. I loved him so much I had fainting spells when I thought of him. He had the wherewithal, the maturity and the grace to tell me no. I thank you Johnny for that and I thank myself for the rest.
I ran for 9th grade president. The elections were held in our homerooms and then, taken to the whole 9th grade. The ballots were passed out and the voting began. I saw my name and I thought I had arrived. I had arrived I thought because I was such a nice person. I was, but that had nothing to do with it. I signed up, simple as that. I thought since I was such a nice person, I would vote for the other guy because that is the nice thing to do. Not at all, I lost the election by one vote. You know whose vote it was that dinged me, don’t you? You are right. You are absolutely right. My own vote did me in and that was a lesson learned the hard way and one that I have passed on to you. Always, I mean always, vote for yourself. My goodness gracious, you do not need to be so nice that you ace yourself right out of the election.

UP THE DOWN

14 Jan 2008 7 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Trials and Tribulations

Now that I am considerably older, I have a dream. I want to go up the down elevator in Nordstrom’s Department Store. I want to start at the bottom of the down and make it to the top. Why Nordstrom’s, because there is always a piano player there and I can do better exercises to music. Today was the day I was going to do it or else. I drove to the closest parking spot, which led me directly into the menswear department entrance. It is the closest to the escalators. I was nervous. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. More

WHAT WOULD YOU DO

13 Jan 2008 3 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Reflections

“IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?”

I saw this in a gift shop and decided to let you know about it. It certainly is motivating. I say it over and over to myself. I did not buy the wall hanging, but think I have it memorized. If not, then, it is: ” What would you do if you knew you could not fail.” Either way it says the same thing.

Harry’s Reply to Teacher You Don’t Like Me Very Much. An earlier post.

13 Jan 2008 4 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Letters, Teacher

Hey Sheila,

This is a great article, it reminds me a lot of my own experiences and the things I saw while I was at school. Look, I really dont understand why some teachers dont give students a chance to be good in class, or do good on a test and most importantly just be a good student.
Coming from my own experiences, I started to like studying and school in general once I found out that I have the potential to be a good student.

I feel that teachers aren’t ready to deal with kids that are hyper. Dude, they are kids, you cant expect them to act like machines. That’s what teachers want these days; they want their students to be submissive robots who follow rules and directions. However, thats not what our world needs today. We need people who are ready to make changes in our society.

Harry

HEY HARRY,

10 Jan 2008 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Letters, Teacher

Dear Mrs. Clapkin,

My name is Hamid B. I was a student of yours at Calvert Elementary. You might know me better as “Harry”. I just wanted to thank you for all your help when I was in your class. I am now finishing up my Bachelors at UCLA and have also applied to dental school. I just came back from an interview at Harvard; and was thinking to myself that I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t do what you did for me. Although I didn’t change much as a youngster, I did remember everything you taught me later on. Thank for everything. Please let me know if you remember me.

Hamid B.

Hey, Harry,

I just got home and found your wonderful message. Do I remember you?

Absolutely, I DO. I even remember some of the lessons you learned. In teaching them, I learned them all over again. More

Full Circle

02 Jan 2008 4 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Quotes, Reflections

BITS AND PIECES OF A GRASSHOPPER MIND

Chapter One: The Blog
FULL CIRCLE

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.”
John Foster Dulles

Bits and Pieces from a Grasshopper Mind is a blog technique I will be using to write this book so that I do not have to follow the templates found in the books I purchased thinking I would learn how to write a novel. I poured over them, all twenty-eight of them, and not one suggested I write the way I write.

Grasshopper is a book that will create a metamorphosis in your mind, which allows you come out thinking how you can use what you have experienced.

Have you noticed that unique thinking is round and comes full circle? More