Michelle Unedited ❤

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

An Apology Letter to My Blog

Dear Blog,

How are you? I know it’s been a while since I last wrote on you. Well, I’ve been busy and living my life. As a result, I had to forgo some of the things that brought me great pleasure, especially you. It’s not my intention to forget you. You’re still my wonderful place on the World Wide Web where I can share my deepest thoughts, rants and rambles.

But, if I’m being completely honest, I’ve been cold to you. I have also been busy, and most of all, happy. So happy that I did not feel the need to pour my daily thoughts and happenings to you. I know I have neglected you, and for that I am truly and utterly sorry.

As the year is coming to a close, I promise to give you my full attention again, and take you out more. I promise to never neglect and forget you, my faithful friend. In good times and bad, I pledge to let you in more, and communicate better with one another. I will learn to treasure you again and appreciate everything that you have done for me.

I sincerely apologise for my behaviour once again. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. It’s my hope that we can move on from this and rediscover the magic in our relationship.

Sincerely,

Michelle L.

Thursday, 16 October 2014

What I have learned as an Educator

I used the word educator because I am not a teacher. I am just merely someone that works with kids of all ages with different abilities and characteristics, as well as learning needs and styles. I am not going to start off by saying working with kids is like the best job in the word, because in all honesty, it’s really not.

I have good lessons, and then I have bad lessons. The kind of lessons that just gets out of control. Before I know it, I start raising my voice in an attempt to maintain my sanity and control in the classroom. I’ve been stressed out. Oh boy, I’ve been stressed. Sleepless nights doing lesson plans and worksheets have been pretty common. I have spent hours doing a lesson plan only to have it go out the window in the first 10 minutes of the lesson. I have created Maths worksheets according to kid’s abilities; developed English exercises based on their interests, and joined in when they play Pac-Man, Hang Man, or whatever games that tickle their fancy. I have had to lecture them when they forgot to do their work, striking a balance between voicing my disappointment and showing some compassion. Sounds easy, but it’s not.

I have done silly things to embarrass myself in order to get them to do work. I remember telling a group of kids that I will hop on one foot, and rub both my tummy and my head simultaneously, as long as they have their PENS in their HANDS, and their ELBOW on the TABLE, busy writing their story. You know what they did instead? They GIGGLED, and GIGGLED, and GIGGLED. You know what I did? I GIGGLED, and GIGGLED, and GIGGLED with them. “You’re funny!”, they screamed with delight. Long story short, not much work was done during that lesson.

I’ve been strict with them. I have also been harsh. They would hate me, and is not afraid to tell me so. “This is boring”, “I hate this”, or even “I’m not going to listen to you!” I’ve heard it before. I have given them more homework as a form punishment, which backfired on me. I have chatted with them about their lives, and they have even told me all about a movie they recently saw with great detail. I have taught them the dance moves to "All About That Bass", and they have taught me how to play PS3. Most importantly, they have realized that I am human just like the rest of them. I recently helped a student that is studying Social Work at university, with her assignment about One Direction. Luckily for her, I am young enough to know who they are, and we discussed about Harry Styles' relationship with Taylor Swift and their controversy on Twitter. She was shocked and could not fathom how I know more about One Direction than her. "Do I really look that old?" I asked her, in which she replied with a nod, and a cheeky grin.

I’ve been called a Mum, and I’ve also been called a Dad. I am neither, I am not yet a teacher, but I am an educator. I motivate and cultivate a positive learning environment for those I am willing to help. I nurture their passion, and help them overcome their weaknesses. I do it because I love them. I love their eagerness to learn, their ability to make me laugh, and their persistence to try harder to reach their learning goal.

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Imagining a world with no sadness, pain and fear.

We live in a world filled with unexpected phenomenons, and undesirable events. Tragedies, accidents and mysteries around the world constantly fill our news feed. Stories of happiness and miracles are rare, yet stories filled with sadness, pain or fears are dramatized to an extent.

Imagine a perfect world with no sadness, no pain, and no fear.

A world where hurt is never felt and tears are never dropped. A world where everyone smiles and never frown. A world where there is only good and failures and disappointments are non-existent. A world where there are no demons and monsters. A world with no politics, war and poverty. A world where the notion of ugly and fat does not exist. A world where there is no such thing as racism, harassment and discrimination. A world where everyone is equal and there is no hatred and suffering.

Would this perfect world be worth living in?

In a perfect world, it is full of happiness. We never stop smiling because we know nothing but a smile. We feel nothing because we are already fulfilled. We will never experience sadness because all we know is the feeling of happiness. Our feeling of happiness is our constant state of mind, we don’t feel anything else.

In a perfect world, there is no suffering. A world with no suffering is a world with no heart. How do we care for something when we never feel pain and sadness? How can we know love if we don’t know hate? How can we fix something when there is nothing to fix? How do we know strength when we don’t experience pain?

In a perfect world, there is no real happiness. We won’t know what it is like to be truly happy without sadness.

In a perfect world, we are inhumane.

Because a perfect world with no sadness, pain and fear does not exist.

Our sadness, pain and fear are part of our everyday life. They are inevitable but they make us human. They encompass our perfect world. We cannot have light without darkness. It is a constant balance that we face every day. Our pain and suffering enables us to know what the feeling of true happiness is. To feel the pain of birth is to know that the child is yours. To a life of tragedy is to give you the strength to survive. To lose a loved one is to know what love and appreciation is. To suffer from an illness is to know that we are staying alive. A world with sadness, pain and fear teaches us the true meaning of happiness. A world with sadness, pain and fear also teaches us that we should strive for a better world.