Heidi is a friend of mine from college who now works in China helping children become literate in the native language of the area she lives in. She showed me some of her textbooks. It is a very looping and pretty script.
Heidi's sister-in-law, Monica, is in my ATC group. Actually, if I think about it, I don't believe Monica and I have ever met face-to-face. We connected via this blog, her blog, and facebook.
I can't imagine living and working long-term in another culture. Yes, I did spend three years loving my time living in Panama, but I always knew I would go "home." The adventure of learning Mandarin and accepting a teaching position is a bit surreal. Heidi is tall and beautiful with large blue eyes and long red hair, so she doesn't exactly blend. (In fact, she is so obviously Western that she can't leave her apartment without people calling out "Hello.")
At our lunch as we were catching up--you know where you tell your whole life in 20 minutes--I commented on how much the things I learned working for early childhood consultants were applicable to my current day job as a marketing director. Heidi said simply, "Nothing is wasted."
And I've thought a lot about that in the weeks since our lunch.
In reading Biomimicry, one of the big themes is that nature doesn't produce "waste." Everything. And I mean EVERYTHING has a useful purpose.
I'd just never thought about the experiences of life before in that context. Still thinking on it.
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