Happy Birthday, Blog!

 Yesterday was the Assumption of Mary. Yesterday was also the 10th anniversary of my blog! I started this blog 10 years ago in hopes of forming and creating some sort of inspiration and goals for myself. I felt a strong sense of loneliness and isolation in where I was at. I hadn't written in blog form for a while and the one I did have for 3 in a half years fizzled out as I felt I had outgrown that season and journey. 

Sometimes a blog you start sticks and you feel that connection, motivation and inspiration to keep going. Other times, it falls flat and what you thought would last and be solid runs out of steam and the string becomes like loose threads. I'm so grateful this blog has been the former. I have shared so many seasons and experiences on here. 

10 years is a good and long chunk of time. So much I feel has happened since then. When I started writing in here, I was still an undergrad student! The journey continued from finishing college, to navigating jobs and the valleys of my 20's, discerning next steps and being a grad student, to 3 in a half years later graduating with my MLIS, to seasons of figuring out next steps in jobs, career goals, forming friendships, community, family reunion and events, dating, reading books, pursuing my faith, learning languages and pursuing creative endeavors, to all the various events and milestones in between. 

Samakti has grown and shaped me and luckily has become so much more than what I had thought or envisioned it would be for me. It felt like a shot in the dark to start this blog after feelings of inspiration and a quick trip to El Salvador for my sister and brother in law's wedding. (And to have recently been there a few weeks ago for their 10-year wedding anniversary!) 

I hope to continue this journey of writing, exploring, inspiration and sharing. It has kept me motivated and encouraged, another way of sharing my writing and savoring memories that I would may not have written down otherwise or had completely forgotten altogether. 

A Book Inspired By My Teacher

 As I was on my evening walk a few weeks ago, basking in the last rays of sunlight and embracing the summer twilight, I had a bounce in my step. I had found some pretty cool books from little free libraries, and ones I hadn't recognized that they were there before. One of them struck my eye. It immediately made me think of my 5th grade teacher. 

She was by far my favorite teacher, not just in elementary school but throughout my K-12 educational career. She's the one who inspired me the most. She encouraged me with continuing to keep up writing my stories, and motivated and welcomed me into a rich world of reading and books. Her passion for reading and books has stuck with me the most. She was also a good teacher, a good leader, and a talented educator. I think she also was my favorite teacher growing up also because I felt seen. 

The book I saw in the little free library was Ink heart. I hadn't read it before, but it came out close to when I was in her 5th grade class. The summer I was going into 6th grade, she had a book club, and the first book on the list was Inkheart. She wanted her former students to continue to read throughout the summer. I don't know why for whatever reason I didn't join her book club, maybe I read some of the books on my own, but I never read Inkheart. So, I knew I had to pick it up and read it, inspired by my 5th grade teacher once I picked it up from the little free library.

I have been having Covid this past week and taking time to read more. I finished Inkheart last night, and I was interested, even intrigued to see how it would end. I'm glad I read it, as its very imaginative and its own story. I don't really know why I've been on this journey of reading children/adolescent books, but it's been a fun adventure this summer, and I would like to write more about it.