Be Real

This past weekend I managed to reconnect with some old friends from high school via various social networking websites. (If you are interested, you can try some of these sites out for yourself at MySpace, Facebook, and Classmates.com.) It has been fun hearing from them and seeing what they are up to now, 15 years after high school.

I had a difficult summer dealing with a rift in what I considered to be one of my closest friendships. Relationships of any kind can be difficult, especially when miscommunication occurs. The effects can be devastating. What I have learned, however, is that the only thing you can do is be real. Be real with yourself, first and foremost. If you can't be real with yourself, then you can't ever hope to engage honestly with anyone else around you. Secondly, I've learned that when the going gets rough, you need to just relax and let go. Not let go as in a flippant "see ya, have a nice life." Instead I mean loosening the grip and not "trying" so hard. As a very sensitive person I have a very difficult time when I feel that I've been misunderstood--so I typically go into overdrive spinning my wheels and trying to backtrack in order to rectify the situation. However, what usually ends up happening is that I end up going nowhere, only digging my wheels deeper into the ground.

This summer I tried a different approach. As difficult as it was, I knew I had no choice but to let go or I would only be spinning my wheels again. Instead, I decided I would let my character and my spirit be my testimony. Just be real. I try to live my life as a kind, compassionate, friendly and honest person of integrity. I must let that truth speak for itself and not distract from it by clammering in with all my inarticulate explanations. It hasn't been easy, but it has been a growing experience for me.

So, the reconnecting with old friends has also brought with it an element of healing power for me. Relationships are powerful forces in our lives...and there is quite enough love to go around, in my view. I still hope that my fractured friendship can be renewed again in the future, and I will wait patiently until that possibility comes. But for now I will celebrate newfound friends and cherish the many people who have touched my life through the years. I have been blessed!

Library Workshop - Let's Play

I was reading an article the other day ("The Academic Library as a Full-Service Information Center," by Sue Samson and Erling Oelz, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 31, Number 4, pages 347-351), and was struck by this imagery:

"the model of a library is no longer one of a warehouse but one of a workshop open for exploration and discovery."

Ooooooo, how exciting! This is what excites me about becoming an academic librarian--working in an academic setting that supports as well as inspires learning, creativity, growth, and discovery. Today, the library is not simply a warehouse of stored information. Rather, it is the point of origin from which a multitude of exploratory missions embark. Especially given the expansive amount of informational tools and resources that are now available electronically, the dynamic territories waiting to be discovered and further explored stretch to the horizon.

I also love the "workshop" imagery. Workshops are places for creativity and building. They are "hands-on" type environments. In the workshop model of a library you are not just a passive recipient of information. Intead, you are actively engaged in the informational transaction. In many cases you can become a contributor to the body of information, sharing your own knowledge and insights via blogs, wikis, and various social networking tools available via the internet.

One of my hobbies, when I have the time, is to engage in artsy/craftsy kinds of projects. I like to refer to it as "playing art." I had so much fun playing as a kid. As adults we often forget how to truly have fun--to enjoy the creativeness of play. I like the idea of transferring my "let's play art!" imagery into "let's play library!" Who would like to join me?!

Some thoughts to reflect on:

• What new journeys would you like to embark on?
• If you were a kid again, what would you most like to play?
• Do you find other ways to play in your own life?
• What would "playing library" look like to you?

It's Meez

At my sister's prompting, I have finally created my "Meez." I decided to go with the Library School Student theme... (Although you usually won't find me sitting on the floor!)

But it's a Dry Heat...

So, you may have heard about the soaring triple digit temperatures in California this week. I managed to pick the hottest weekend of the year (high temps ranging from 106-110 degrees), to visit my sister and brother-in-law in their new home in L.A.. Needless to say, most of the activities we had potentially planned were scrapped, as our options became limited to indoors/with high functioning a/c. Even though it ended up being a fairly low-key trip--lots of lounging around the house, watching DVDs, etc.--I still had a wonderful time spending time with Cindy and Don and their two animated weiner dogs, Cordy and Seumas.

Cindy and I did escape to the Santa Monica beach on Saturday--an inviting respite from the heat, as the temperatures were much cooler than in the valley. It was wonderful to walk along the coast, waves splashing our legs. The breeze along the water's edge was actually cool--not the oven-baked air that hovered around us everywhere else we went. Very refreshing. Of course, it was a holiday weekend, so the beach was packed--I'd never seen so many people concentrated in one spot on a beach. Definitely a different sight than I am used to seeing along the Oregon Coast. At this point I still find the Oregon Coast to be much more picturesque, but we only saw a limited snapshot of the California Coast, so the jury is still out. You can read more about our weekend on Cindy's Blog, and even see some photos of our adventures, if you are interested.

I'm in the Burbank airport now, preparing to return to life in Columbus. My new boss starts tomorrow, and my second week of classes is underway. Should be an interesting and busy week!