Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Would I Want To Know? Leader or Follower & School Memories

Today's blogs...

Caribbean Blue - Enya



Not really a love song per se but I LOVE the imagery and the warmth of this video and it is welcome at this time of year. Enjoy.

Blog City – Day 365

Prompt: You have entered the house of your favorite author. You find a copy of their latest book. It is about you! Do you open it and read it? Are you brave enough to read how your story ends? What do you do?

This prompt has me thinking of Ink Heart by Cornelia Funke. A man is able to read people out of stories and into the real world. In doing so he casts real people into the story unwittingly. His wife is lost this way. One of the characters desperately wants to be read back into his story. He does not care that he may die... he wants to see his wife and child again. Since most of the books have been destroyed by a character who does not want to return to the story, the only option is to go to the author and have him set things right.

My next thoughts are my own life is not interesting enough to constitute a good story... so why would anyone want to read it? I would also not want to know the details of my own life.... God writes my story. It is not for me to know.

Like writing, I move forward to see where the story of my life takes me.

Welcome To My Reality - Week Sixty - Three

1. Do you consider yourself to be a leader or a follower? Why? What do you see the pros and cons of each role to be?

Intriguing question. What if you combine it with an introvert that others see as an extrovert. What it comes out as, is a leader who would prefer to run things behind the scenes, not front and center. Does that make sense?

I read an article about this recently. It made sense to me. People look at me and see me as chatty and social, bubbly and friendly... and I am, in some situations; but I can also be perfectly fine on my own.

In a classroom, I step up because it is my responsibility and I push my nerves out of the way and do what is expected of me, but at the end of the day... I am spent. I then prefer to talk to nobody but my husband. After dinner it is a book or writing.... nothing overly social, unless I venture onto Writing.com where I can lurk or comment when the need arises.

So if I answer the question - am I a leader or a follower? I can do both, but prefer a role out of the limelight working for the cause. I do not follow blindly... at least, I hope I do not.

For me it can also be situational. At school I take the leadership role and like to be in charge of how things are planned out - I am open to the dynamics of my classroom. Learning can open up a way I never expected and sometimes it is good to follow the student's interest and see where it goes. I can reassess and reset my plans for the next lesson. Flexibility is key.

At home, I tend to let my husband lead. He leans towards a more traditional background. That is not to say I follow blindly. He discusses things with me and big decisions are jointly made. I trust him to do right by us and it is often easier to let him feel he is leading than arguing over petty things. I prefer to pick my battles.

It would be weird to have my husband show up at school. There I am in charge.

The Power of Introverts:



4. What is your favourite memory from your school days (grade school, middle school, high school, College/University)?

When I was in University I used to like to hunker down in a study carrel on the fifth floor of the library. It was quiet and well lit and open. Full of study carrels with very few people in that area. In the winter, I would bring a cozy pair of socks and take off my boots. I would change my socks for the few hours I had off between classes. This would allow me to dry my other socks and boots and even take a wee nap on my books. Twenty minutes was a blessing some of those days. I woke up refreshed for the next class.

Another place I liked to hole up was the basement of the University Center. Usually the second Tuesday of the month I would find a new issue of The Writer's Digest in the pharmasy on the main floor. I would buy my lunch and slip down there for the quiet to read the magazine cover to cover. That was twenty years ago and I am still reading Writer's Digest magazines.