Cranberries

Someone recently asked me if I teach all these classes because I have to or because I want to. Isn’t that a question that plagues everyone as they get ready to go to work each morning?

This semester I’m adding an online section of Marine Biology to my schedule, and soon, I’m planning to add the lecture portion of Introductory Biology to my schedule. Am I ready to take on more classes? No. Was I ready to return to full-time teaching? No.

But, when was I ever ready for big changes in my life? Had I been ready  to get married, get divorced, buy a home or have my first baby? I had to bite the bullet and “just do it.”

To get inspired for my marine biology course, I took my kids for a visit to the newly remodeled Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. I had visited this Aquarium regularly since I moved to California in1986. I had not been there since they remodeled, or since my surgery. One thing that struck me early in my visit was that there seemed to really be an effort to make it elegant inside. I generally don’t think of science or aquariums as being elegant, so I wasn’t sure if I liked the changes. As we walked (or rolled–I borrowed a wheelchair) through the exhibits, I didn’t feel the same rush of excitement that I had felt in the past.

I tried to figure out what was wrong. Part of the problem is that before my brain surgery, I could observe exhibits of ecosystems and immerse myself in the possibility of visiting live, wild ecosystems one day. Now hiking through natural ecosystems seems to be an unrealistic goal. Before I immersed myself in the idea that I would never see wild animals again, I reminded myself that I saw the largest animal on the planet a few weeks ago!

Again, when I am hit with “lemons,” I remind myself of “cranberries!”

When Life Throws You Lemons…Make Cranberry Juice!