I saw several people I knew today when I ventured in to my my town's delightful farmers' market. Every Sunday from May through October we host this...and today was a glorious day. Vendors were out in full force, the sun was shining, leaves just starting to change and the weather was perfect, high 60's. There was a guitar player singing Dylan, Jorma, and CSNY. When he finished, a jazz quartet set up under a tent. Everywhere I went, from the soap maker to the pickle guy, I ran into friends, acquaintances,Temple members, and, to my delight, even my Rabbi! I struck up conversations with strangers, as people are prone to do on days like this.
As I say, no one noticed that my hair was shorter, but everyone has noticed that I seem very happy. For one thing, it's Sunday and I am out and enjoying a fall day. This is something that I have not had the luxury of doing in, well, about 30 years. As a religious school teacher and then long-time Hebrew school director, Sundays have always been my big work day. I have not had a school-year Sunday off in years, or if I have, then it's because I have something else to do, or I am sick in bed. So to be enjoying a fall day and buying artisanal breads while listening to Gershwin is just a joy.
Halfway through my life I changed jobs.
I like change. I like to try new things. Just this year I have tried Thai and Indian food. This very day I baked an apple crisp for the first time. (None of these were great, but I did try them all!) I now no longer sit at the helm of one synagogue's school, but find myself in a new role, as a consultant and regional educator to many synagogues. I am also teaching more this year. I love the field of Jewish Education. You might say I found my calling at a very young age (20) when I started my first job as a Sunday School teacher during my senior year of college. I adored it, I didn't mind waking up early on Sundays, and I was a natural. Now, 32 years later, I haven't left this cherished world of Jewish ed, but I do have my Sundays back.
I am really enjoying the new challenges of these new jobs and the welcome surprises that the change of the schedule has brought me. I have found some focus and renewed energy on work, family and fun.
Why did I make this change now? I had to. It was time. Maybe that's fuel for another blog entry.
For now I will enjoy my time and ponder the bigger questions. How can I use my experiences to help others? How can I continue to make the ancient Jewish texts relevant to the students who are even more over-programmed than ever? Is the smoked mozzarella at the farmers market really smoked, or do they use chemicals to give it that flavor? Should I consider moving away from the 1978 Frampton Comes Alive style haircut?
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SEPARATED AT BIRTH?
* Sorry about the word hairdresser. It's the woman who cuts my hair. It's a dorky word now that I'm typing it, but what else should I call her? What would she call herself? Probably a stylist. I can't even believe the whole first paragraph is dedicated to my hair, though I was sitting at the beauty parlor (there I go again... salon) yesterday musing to myself how much time and how many dollars people, mostly women are spending on their hair. So I guess one paragraph (well, now two) is okay.
And an apology here... I just realized after I published this that clicking on the links to hear the music takes you away from the blog, rather than opening up a new window to hear the music simultaneously. Sorry about that. I'll work on that. I do recommend checking out the music, of course. Just don't ADD yourself right off this page into a YouTube frenzy of classic rock clips and forget to finish reading.
