As of just an hour ago of this writing, TeamRad just finished our annual planning for the coming year. I say “coming year” because over the course of time, it has just organically become the schedule that RadSchool functions on the timeline of a regular college. We do most of our work from September – May, then the summer comes. We do have summer school just like other places of learning, but things are quieter in the summer. I love these planning sessions. They are so fun, creative, and exciting. We bounce things off each other like nerf-balls laughing, having a-ha moments, and brainstorms.
This year’s session took 3 hours. And we were more than a little over-zealous as the planning wound up soaring well past May of 2023 all the way in the spring of 2024 with a secret plan for Autumn of 2024.
To some, that might seem overwhelming, but for me it’s calming. It’s reassuring to me to know what is happening, when, and where. Is it an online class, or do we continue our slow move back into LIVE classes? The answer as you might guess, is some of both. What’s particularly exciting to me is the new lineup of classes for things I’ve not taught before or that I haven’t taught for years. It’s also joyful to see RadSchool start to have a solid structure. This class leads to that class which leads to this certification course, etc. If I use a Christmas metaphor (as I’m known to do) we finally have the tree up so that we can now decorate it with pretty ideas, visions, and a garland of joy. Expanding on that metaphor, I largely have December 2022 off this year. And that makes me very happy.
When I went to write this blog entry, I suddenly heard the song “Blue Skies” in my head. It’s a very old song by Irving Berlin. The lyrics go:
“Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see
Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long
Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you’re in love, my how they fly
Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on
I never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going oh-so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you’re in love, my how they fly
Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on”
While being in love is its own bit of happiness, I might change that chorus to be “When you love what you do, my how they fly.” Reinventing the creative ways that you do what you love, that’s truly the definition of “Blue Skies.”
And now I’m going to have that song stuck in my head the rest of the day. Oh well, there are worse things. 🙂
With you on the journey!
~Radleigh
The Stuff That’s Hidden
I recently got back from a visit to the city I was born and raised in. My sister and her family still reside in Knoxville, Tennessee and I hadn’t been back there in years. But one of my nieces and my nephew have been “fruitful and multiplied” so I had three babies to...
The Unsuspecting Expert
I’ve been doing a lot of “nest feathering” in my little French cottage here in Colorado. That’s been a whole other kind of fascinating for me as I have been drawn to colors and textures and artsy things that frankly astonish me. My inner “introspection addict” is...
Life is Sooo Good
I talk to myself. I do it all the time. I’ve been working from home since 2001, so I had chalked it up to spending a lot of time in quiet spaces. But, I’m also starting to wonder if it’s more than that. That maybe… just maybe… sometimes me talking to myself is...
I Have Something to Confess …
So… I have something to confess. Something really weird that has been going on in my life since I moved back home to Denver. I’ve been keeping this on the downlow but I guess it’s time for me to “come out of the closet” one more time. I don’t even know how it...
Why Can’t Every Day Be April 7th?
Y’all know I am pretty good at full disclosure. However, I am gawd-awful at taking time off. Seriously, it’s problematic. Everyone says so. To give you a hint, I have been published 14 times over 12 years. My peers think I’m nuts. My publisher adores me. The first few...