Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.
Today’s prompt needs no research for me. I know the meaning of my name. My first name is Barbara and the name comes from Greek, meaning foreign or strange. I assume that the word barbarian is derived from that, and I can assure you I’m not a savage! Ha!
I think it’s fitting that I spent my professional career in international education and traveled to many countries and did many cross-cultural workshops along the way. The name suits me! In fact, I took this photo in Spain.
I was named after a great aunt on both sides of my family and that name is also the middle name of one of my grandmothers. That has more meaning to me that the origins of my name.
As a kid, I always wanted to be a singer and held onto that desire for many years into adulthood. I dreamed of it and would sing in front of the mirror holding a hairbrush, pretending it was a microphone., Those were the days before singing contests like American Idol or The Voice and even before karaoke machines. (Maybe they existed but I had never heard of them in my small town where I lived.) I did every singing opportunity throughout school that I could, joining the chorus, musicals, and our small group called The Minstrels. I did singing state competitions and also was selected to sing in a three state vocal event with high schoolers from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. I entered county fair performing events and also sang at weddings and at church. Singing was a passion and my dream job for many years.
As a first generation college student during a time when academic advising was not professionalized as it is now, I didn’t have the guidance I needed to pursue it. I listened to the outside noise about how hard it was to make it, and how difficult the music program at the university was. When I told people I wanted to study Music, they always said or assumed that I wanted to be a music teacher. Or they would encourage me to get a teaching certificate “to fall back on.” But I wanted to perform. When I entered the university, I let those voices influence me so I was “undecided” and didn’t take a single music course. I only sang when I played my guitar.
When you’re passionate about a subject, that’s a sign that it’s something you should pursue. I was very passionate about singing and music in general, but also had other interests and eventually ended up in a very rewarding career in international education. I loved working with college students and with people from all over the world. I loved my study abroad experiences and loved seeing students take that leap to explore the world. I am happy with the career I ended up pursuing but deep down, I often wondered what would have become of me had I pursued my dream job of singing. I have no regrets, but it is fun to imagine a career in singing. I used to say to people, “Don’t be surprised if you see me out there dropping everything here and performing when I’m 60.”
The lesson in all of this is to listen to your passions. Follow your dreams and don’t listen to the outside noise convince you otherwise not to pursue that dream job.
A good leader has several qualities that make them successful. Good leaders inspire others to do their best. Good leaders can make decisions when necessary that others may be fearful of making or when decisions are difficult. Good leaders listen to the people they’re leading. Good leaders lead by example. A good leader will uplift and support the people they lead to be better: never keeping them from rising to the top or advancing in their careers. Good leaders have integrity, ethics and are accountable for their actions. I appreciate good leaders and have had a few in my life that I admire.
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
Today’s prompt asks us to un-invent something. I am choosing nuclear weapons. We wouldn’t have the horrific effects from the bombs in Japan and we’d save a lot of money by not building up arsenals. While conflicts and wars would still be out there, there wouldn’t be this threat and fear of annihilation that exists today.
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
Today’s prompt is interesting to me because love is always a positive thing! So I have many examples of when I felt loved,including from family, partners, friends, colleagues and pets! I’m not going to describe the details of just one, but know that it’s a great feeling to be loved and to give love. If we all shared our love with each other, the world would be a better place.
Today’s writing prompt is about clutter. I see reducing clutter as a habit to be appreciated. Clutter never really ends so it’s good to develop a habit of dealing with it as it comes along.
I’ve participated in a few decluttering programs from various people to help me sort through the physical things I can declutter in my place. Moving from New York back to Iowa helped in that, as I had to downsize for the move and into a smaller place. As with moving, getting rid of a storage unit I had kept for way too long forced me to deal with clutter. Some things I threw away, others I donated or gave away and other things I took to a consignment store.
I once got rid of thousands of emails I had in a gmail account. I even wrote about it on a blog post. Emails can clutter your life in the same way that physical clutter can.
There are some things that are best to deal with daily, like the mail or emails. If you don’t deal with them daily, the paper and the items in your inbox pile up.
The tricky things when reducing clutter have been photographs and sentimental things for me. It’s always a work in progress!
Since clutter never really ends, I believe the best way to reduce it is to develop a habit of it. The feeling you get from reducing clutter is freeing. As George Carlin has said, it clears a space to get more stuff!
I really like cats. I had my first cat around the age of 8, and had others growing up. I would say they are my favorite animal. This isn’t to say I don’t like other animals: I do! But I am most comfortable and experienced with living with cats, more than any other animal.
Each has their own personality yet each exhibits the same cat-like behaviors: sleeping a ton, pouncing on toys, jumping up on things and purring! I love the sound of purring. It is so soothing. The photo below are of my two cats I have now: Zelda (left) and Linguini (right).
They provide me with loads of love and entertainment everyday!
One of my daughters asked me recently which cat was my favorite. I couldn’t come to a conclusion, as they have all been special to me in some way.
Although I would rather communicate with people in person, online communication fills a big space in my life. Today’s writing prompt asks about the ways we communicate online. I have used various methods of communication online.
The oldest way was email. I don’t use it as much now as in the past, but it’s still a part of my communication methods. The most frequent way I communicate online is through social media outlets. I belong to some Facebook groups and I’m very active on Twitter. I also use Instagram and very minimally Snapchat. The Facebook groups have been particularly useful, and I created one for our last high school reunion. They’ve also been a wonderful way to connect with others with similar interests. I also have a YouTube channel, but I haven’t done any videos for a long while. I do, however, watch others and will join broadcasts and comment and interact with them at times.
During the pandemic, video chat became a huge part of my life. Zoom made a household name for itself and I took advantage of that time at home to gather up several girlfriends from my hometown to communicate with each other weekly. It was so beautiful to catch up with them as some I hadn’t heard from in years. Most of them I’ve known since kindergarten and I appreciate those times a lot.
Writing online has also been a method of communication for me. I’ve always loved to write and so blogging became a way to express my thoughts years ago. I also had a couple of websites.
I appreciate all of these modes of communication for connecting people, spreading my voice and to learning from others.
When I was younger, we used to take a lot of road trips in the car. I loved going places. While I’ve been to many different countries in my life, I have fond memories of trips in the car in the U.S.
Perhaps my most memorable road trip was one where I drove west with my mom and two cousins who were visiting from the former Czechoslovakia. It was during the days when it was nearly impossible for most Czech visitors to come to the U.S. due to the country’s strict laws. While I had more cousins there, only the older ones could visit at that time. So our family gathered up funds to bring them here for a visit.
This road trip took us from Iowa to Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. We visited the Rocky Mountain National Park, The Grand Tetons National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore Monument, The Badlands National Park, Deadwood and the Corn Palace.
It was tiring because I drove it all. But it was a beautiful time together and to see my relatives’ reactions to the beauty of our national park system. I appreciate that time and the opportunity to show them a bit of my country’s beauty.
Today’s writing prompt asks what I’d eat right now for a snack. Given that it’s early morning as I write this and haven’t yet made my breakfast, lots of breakfast foods come to mind! Those aren’t snacks, though. One of my favorite snacks are almonds. They are perfect for me any time of the day or night. I appreciate almonds!
Appreciation Magic 