A snow globe is designed for chaos. It looks pretty sitting on the shelf, but for the full effect you need to see it with the "snow" swirling around. The best way to meet that end is to pick the snow globe up and turn it upside down. The longer you hold it upside down and let the snow fall to the glass top of the globe, the more snow collects. Sometimes the last bits of snow are stubborn and cling to the object in the center of the globe. That is when you have to shake your snow globe to ensure all the little bits of snow have settled in the bottom/top of the globe. After everything from that last shake has settled you flip the globe right side up and BEHOLD! You see the true beauty of the snow globe and view it as it was meant to be seen.
In March of 2011 my snow globe was "flip-turned upside-down" (to all fellow 80's children - there is your daily ear worm - you're welcome). It took a couple of years for the snow to gather in the top of the globe, but after that last shake I found myself right side up in the most beautiful place ever - the LIBRARY!
I never intended to become a librarian. I knew I would be a teacher since I was probably 6 years old. A few placement tests in high school and a recent facebook quiz suggested "Creative Writer", and I have often entertained the thought of my fantasy careers - costume maker for Broadway, or Sesame Street actor, but I really never imagined myself being anything other than a teacher. Certainly not a librarian.
And yet here I am - Children's Librarian at the main branch of the County Library. And I am unbelievably thrilled! Everything I have learned thus far in my life - formal schooling as well as experience - is being put to use in this position. Everything I loved about being a public school teacher is here - introducing children to new concepts, the light in their eyes whey they "get it", the excitement of learning through play. The thrill of education is here in the library meeting room every bit as much as it was in my 4th grade or Pre-K classrooms.
You know what is not at the library? Everything I hated about teaching - the red tape, the politics, the standardized testing, the state mandates. Here in the library we can let the kids set the pace of learning. There is no deadline on which my kids will be tested on what they have learned. There is no minimum of information they must absorb by a certain date in order to proceed on to the next year of their life. There is no test for comprehension or mastery. That is good, because most of the things that kids learn in childhood - the things that really matter - are not quantifiable. Learning to be kind, to share, to respect authority, to stand up for yourself, to question, to experiment, to problem solve, to get along with others, to listen, to play, to express, and to enjoy life, these are things that must be learned and experienced, but can seldom be taught, and are never proven on a paper test.These are the things kids are learning at the library!
So although I never intended to be a librarian, here I am, right where I was meant to be. I know there is a movement/train of thought/idea/lifestyle that places emphasis on making intentional decisions - the Intentional Life or something of the sort. I have no issue with this - knowing where you want to go and making deliberate moves to get you there is certainly commendable. But sometimes the best place to be is where you never intended to go. Sometimes your life gets shaken like a snow globe and you find yourself upside down and totally out of control. My advice when this happens is to hang on, and let it be. When the snow settles, you might find yourself in the middle of a beautiful scene you would never have imagined existed.
Until next time....
~ The Unintentional Librarian ~
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