When I speak of wonder, I use the word to mean a sense of awe or admiration, not in the questioning sense. Wonders do crop up in our daily lives, even in the AfterTimes, and this morning I had the great fortune to start my day with one.

Since 12:45 on December 23rd, 2020, I have completely shut out the reality of my Other Life. I didn’t open my work laptop until deep into our break, and even then with clenched eyes. I fell off the digital teaching landscape completely. Intentionally. Gratefully. But try as I might, my willful denial of the return of school could not keep it from coming. As I laid in bed last night, I still had no idea what I was going to do with my two virtual music classes in the morning, a very highly unusual state for me. And I slept like a baby, partly from the sense of confidence that comes after 20+ years of teaching and knowing your students well. But partly it was the cloud of uninspired funk that has settled over me, brought on by the suffocating restrictions to teaching music in this Covid daymare. 

Imagine, then, my wonder at finding in my Instagram feed, of all places, the inspiration I needed, just when I needed it. As in, this morning, just hours before my classes. What serendipity! What an unexpected gift! I’ve gotten into the habit of scrolling through social media before I get out of bed (not great, I know), and today, my not great habit was rewarded! I follow Franklin Willis, a music teacher in Nashville, who seems like an all-around awesome guy- super positive, creative, enthusiastic. He offered a Hip Hop in the Elementary Music Classroom workshop over the summer, and I got to spend a couple of hours with him. And this morning, this man posted a total winner of an activity on his Twitter feed, and totally set me up 🙂 Thank you universe, and thanks most of all to fwillismusic!