May 22nd, 2018

Hey!  I have a new gig!  As of yesterday, in addition to being an ESL teacher through the Literacy Program now I am also a docent at the Venice Musem.  YAYAYAYAY!  I'm very excited!

I was a fairly frequent visitor to the museum anyway so I suppose it's not a huge leap.  Venice has an interesting history, although not a particularly long one, and most of it's treasures are housed in an historic house turned into a museum. So in essence the building itself becomes a part of the exhibit!

I've been a docent before. A long time ago when I lived in Connecticut, I had been working at a Hospice for a long time. Eleven years in fact, which I suppose doesn't sound all that long but there is an expectation with Hospice work about burnout and it usually comes at year three.  I managed to stick with it for a lot longer but when it was time to go, I was not just toast but extra crispy toast.

I needed to step away and do something that was positive and nurturing for awhile.  To that end,  I actually took some time off before I pursued any other job and in that gap year I took on two volunteer positions.  One was with a local elementary school where I worked with advanced English and math students and created an ESL program. That was so much fun!  The other volunteer position was as a docent at the William Benton Art Museum. And that job fed my soul. Surrounded daily by beautiful works of art, with colour and life and things being created was the absolute antithesis of what I had been doing and it helped me to find my balance again.

I guess it was only natural that I would lean in that direction once more.  My favourite part of my previous docent position was touring groups of school kids.  Seeing their little faces light up and  watching that spark of interest ignite was the absolute best feeling ever.  I am hopeful that I  get to enjoy a similar experience at the Venice Museum.  

Bonus, the museum is very near the art center, the new library (which should open in the winter this year) and is literally across the street from my favourite park.  I can walk to work, it's about a twenty minute stroll, and they aren't asking the world of me, just one afternoon a week.  I believe I can spare that :)

See, I'm thinking that I have to keep the old brain chugging along, keep it sharp, keep it stretching and functional. And one of the very best ways to do that, is to teach others. Seriously, I have always found teaching to be one of the very best learning experiences.  We should never stop learning, never stop growing, never stop taking on a new challenge.

This one is just my latest. And I'm so excited about it!  

When my Dad was home, as we sat around the dinner table, he would ask my sister and I what we had learned that day.  Without fail, every single dinner that he was home we would be asked that question and we had better have an answer!  The expectation was that we should learn at least one new thing every single day.  Nobody is asking me that anymore, but I ponder it myself occasionally.   I think it's a wonderful goal.  

What did you learn today?