Tag Archives: common ground

common ground.

Standard

my class has recently become enamored with a giant box of dinos

they play with them every day

create wildly imaginative scenarios

ask questions about real dinos

reassure me that the ones in our room are not real

one day when playing, a child asked

“would they wear masks if they were alive now?”

another jumped up to say

“never, ever, ever, ever, try to put a mask on a t-rex!!!!”

and an instant class book was born

what a brilliant title

others jumped in to offer reasons why you shouldn’t try to mask one

brainstorming was in full swing

some became illustrators

 it is a fascinating and funny work in progress.

dinos may have left the earth forever, but books will never die.

“stories are the common ground that allow people to connect, despite all our defenses and all our differences.”

-kate forsyth

nailed it.

Standard

I stopped by a new nail salon on my way home from school today

where I met a nail tech from Cambodia 

 we had a bit of a hard time understanding each other

but had a mostly unspoken friendly rapport between us

the rain started pouring down really hard outside

I noticed I was the only customer in the whole salon

and the hallmark channel was on 

showing holiday tv movies

with subtitles

the whole staff was watching

I had come just in time for the last 15 minutes of the current movie

where the man and woman met again

right before she was almost leaving town to go home forever 

and he had decided to stay and not go to the big city

a special dog was found, it was Christmas Eve, in a small town,

with a big misunderstanding, the whole town was at one event

 somehow it all suddenly came together and worked out

and as the final scene played out on screen

my nail guy stood up smiling and nodding with tears in his eyes

looking around at his co-workers and down at me

and it made me tear up and smile too

as we had found our common ground.

“anyway, stories bring us together to find common ground, to find our way through life together, or just to entertain us, and I am just thrilled to be a part of that process.”

-dorothea benton frank

 

 

 

image credit: pinterest