Generate Your Own Thoughts, Please

This morning's message from my leadership society was about core values. It motivated me to think about my core values, what they are and how they guide my life. One of those values is integrity. I still can't explain exactly why, but I feel so violated when I encounter plagiarism.

The first time someone copied one of my ideas, I thought it was just a coincidence. Maybe we thought alike. The second time someone took my words and made them his own, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just too tired to formulate his own words. The third time someone marketed my project as her own, I didn't know how to respond.

The incidents above actually occurred in my childhood. Returning to college for an elementary ed degree, I've learned that age is not necessarily an indicator of people's maturity or integrity. My academic work has been plagiarized a number of times. In one particular online course, a classmate copied my entire post, added a couple personal sentences, and re-posted it as her own. I can understand distance learning students coming up with similar reflections in response to assignments - it actually happens a lot - but the same exact words? Come on! It makes me wonder. Do these students like my work so much that they think they can't improve on it themselves? Have they been taught that it's okay to "borrow" other persons' ideas, as long as they don't get caught? Are they under the impression that they aren't accountable for their own cognitive processes? Are they just too lazy to think for themselves? 

Yes, I'm on a soapbox. And yes, I am frustrated. Where I typically stick to myself and only impose my values/standards on myself, this is one area where I do see in black and white across the human spectrum. It's not okay to plagiarize. You can be inspired by someone's ideas, be inflamed by someone's ideas, quote another person or refer to their words or works; but don't steal the product of their time, energy, and thought and say it's yours. Just don't do it. 

Sunshine

My doctor says I need more Vitamin D. Who doesn't? After all, this is North Idaho, where the sun only shines a few days out of our six-month-long winter! This morning I was scurrying all around trying to get ready for our weekend trip, plan out a town errand list, and finish up homework for the week. And then I noticed Kona sitting quietly in our entryway, doing nothing but feeling the sunshine pouring through the glass front door. I sat down next to him, just sat and felt the warmth of a none-too-common but oh-so-needed natural light. So calming. So good. Who says a dog can't teach humans?

Lost the Routine

I don't know what it was about being sick for two weeks, but I just can't get back into the swing of things. I had such a good routine going before I got sick -it was the best online semester yet. Maybe I need something to really shake me out of this blah state. Like a mountain climb? One of our mountaineering friends invited me to climb Mt. Hood in a couple weeks. I know I could do it, but I can also think of a hundred excuses not to. Maybe it's time to stop the excuses and look for some reasons why I SHOULD start doing more things. Oh, on that note, we're going snow caving this weekend. So when you're all snuggly and warm inside your homes think of us out in our shovel-carved hole in the snow. Yee-haw.

Brilliant Epiphanies

So... I don't know if it's the returned onslaught of wintry weather, or the typical "I'm-ready-for-spring-and-sunshine" blues, but I've been a little blah lately. Yesterday I had so much homework to do that I decided to take a nap. By 5:30 p.m. I decided I had worked (slept?) long enough, so I turned to other activities to make me feel more productive. And thus had some brilliant epiphanies that can only be experienced when going about the mundane routines in life...

#1) Cooking dinner: I love trying new foods! In my pantry was a package of Vietnamese spring roll wrappers from last year's visit to an Asian food mart in northern Virginia. And thus, my first attempt at making spring rolls! Served with steamed broccoli, meat patties, seaweed, and sesame rice crackers, they at least passed as a meal. But I think I would prefer learning to prepare ethnic dishes from members within their own culture...

#2) Washing dishes: I love unloading the dishwasher! Why is it so satisfying to put all the clean plates, bowls, glasses, silverware, and tupperware into their respective places around the kitchen? I wonder if it's because I so appreciate organization...

#3) Exercising: I love being sore! It means I've finally awoken those muscles which have attempted to remain hidden from motivation for so long. Pilates, even over three sessions, has built up enough soreness in my abs as to make laughing painful...

#4) Paperwork: I love organizing! Oh, so I guess that answers my wondering from Epiphany #2. Maybe I'll never actually DO everything on those lists I wrote out, but hey, at least they helped me FEEL ever so industrious. And I really like throwing things away - like all those receipts from purchases months and months ago... 

Time

Wow, it's March. Already!? If my outdated and undone lists and schedules weren't enough to make me think it's still January, then this snow is. I could have a full-time job shoveling our porches and driveway!

Time management has been a big issue with me lately. I have never had such a hard time getting my schedule under control and getting everything I need to done. But between all the responsibilities, chores, and activities going on, I go to bed every night feeling as if I just didn't get enough done. Isn't strange how much of our obligatory stress is self-imposed? Do you ever wonder if you just did nothing, if the world would even notice?