Sunday Sundae #5
A full moon, early voting, and the importance of studying history
Sunday Sundae is my bi-monthly Sunday treat to you, where I’ll share what I’m reading, teaching/learning, wearing, watching - and what’s bringing me joy.
I’m writing to you feeling tired after my first full week back to school with students, but grateful after a slow morning, a grounding yoga session, and a relaxing weekend with Drew.
Learning and Teaching:
Why do we study history? This week, we highlighted the ways history helps us become more compassionate, humble, and loving humans. We took time to create Life Events lists, and looked at some things we had in common, like surviving Covid 19, experiencing online school, the loss of a pet or the birth of a sibling. We also considered bigger things some people have experienced, like loss of a family member, bullying, parents getting divorced, and more. When we can remember that we’ve all had life experiences, both shared and personal, positive, negative, and neutral, that have shaped us and made us who we are, it can remind us to approach each other with consideration, kindness, and patience for what we cannot see on the surface.
Reading:
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson has been on my list for a long time. While the topic of caste and race in our country is a huge one to tackle, Isabel does it in a way that is engaging while being easy to read and easy to connect with. A big win for important historical texts. Here’s something from Chapter 1 that I loved and how we should all be looking at history, not with shame or guilt, but with a lens of responsibility, acknowledgement, and the opportunity to do better:
Looking beneath the history of one’s country is like learning that alcoholism or depression runs in one’s family…You don’t ball up in a corner with guilt or shame at these discoveries. You don’t…forbid mention of them…You educate yourself. You talk to people who have been through it and to specialists who have researched it. You learn the consequences and obstacles, the options and treatment…Then you take precautions to protect yourself and succeeding generations and work to ensure that these things, whatever they are, don’t happen again.
Watching:
Alien: Romulus (Theaters) - Drew is a big Aliens fan, and we are both fans of Ridley Scott, who directed the original Alien in 1979, and one of my favorites, Blade Runner, in 1982. He was one of the producers on Romulus. No spoilers, but we both enjoyed it more than we expected, I thought the ending was fun and creepy, and we’re hoping there’s another movie to come.
What brought me joy in the past two weeks:
Getting to know my new students and my old students coming by to say hello and tell me about their summers.
Made it to the beach with Drew for August’s full moon.
Drew and I went to our local library to vote early in our primary elections last Saturday. I always appreciate talking to the poll working volunteers who are always the kindest folks, and it feels good to exercise the right to vote.
I found out that a new Lord of the Rings movie about Gollum is coming out in 2026 and I couldn’t be more excited!
Early voting, beach evenings and full moons
I hope your week was sprinkled with joyful moments, feel free to comment and share one of yours, I would love to hear about it! I hope the weeks to come bring you moments of peace, clarity, connection, and community.
Thank you for being here,
Dana