EIGHT WINDOWS INTO HALLELUJAH TRUTH: A Result of a Class Blogging Assignment

Hallelujah for the blogging community! Hallelujah for the amazing students I teach in "Blogging for a World Audience" at the Language Institute at Georgia Tech! As an assignment to deepen their skills for taking photographs and writing inventive but informative photo captions, I asked them to choose 8 topics that everyone of us would take a photograph of and then post on our blogs in the same order.

"Consider this a top secret assignment," I requested. "Don't show your photos or captions to any classmate until we all post our results at the same time!" My rationale? SURPRISE and AWE!

That is, I BELIEVE in the BEAUTY of INDIVIDUAL SOULS. I BELIEVE that given the opportunity, each person/blogger can SPEAK their own language of TRUTH. Therefore, this blogging assignment was given to demonstrate the UNIQUE VOICE of each class blogger. I have participated in this assignment so I can throw in my distinctive VOICE and be part of the give and take of writing blog comments!

I invite you now to the OUTCOME OF MY RESPONSE TO THIS ASSIGNMENT:
Windows into the Life of Hallelujah Truth!

A PORTABLE FEAST. As an artist who earns her living teaching English as a second language, my midday meal is often consumed in front of a computer in office 111, next to the kitchen. I find it good to eat lightly as we enter the holiday season. Underneath my portable canned lunch is the decorative paper I brought to blogging class for those students who wanted to make fun paper turkeys for their Thanksgiving day blog entries! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

ARTIST SPACE AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE. In-town living, six miles from Georgia Tech down Ponce de Leon, leaves teachers with small but practical living spaces. My husband and I use every room of our dwelling space every day! Our antique oak pub table from England serves dual purposes: elegant dining and my desk! Here you see me engaged in making the cover for the children's book, The Misadventures of Maria the Hutia, published in July 2012. (photo by Chiboogamoo, aka Tony Martin)

THE MOST FANTASTIC JACKET EVER! What makes a piece of clothing your favorite? And how long does it stay your favorite? For me, I like clothes that are practical, comfortable, and durable. That is why this particular jacket is so AWESOME. During fall break when my Chiboogamoo and I visited Helen, Georgia, he bought this jacket as a gift for me because it was SO IMPRACTICAL! He told me it looked like something Hallelujah should have! HOORAY for HUSBANDS who give so generously and suitably! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

RETREAT FROM DAILY CHORES. Do you know what these shoes are? Well, first of all, they represent an hour of relaxation taken from the work day! These soft pink confections were slipped over my newly painted toenails after a pedicure and foot massage at Miss Nail Salon! My feet are ready for sandals at Jekyll Island for the Thanksgiving holiday! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

THE BIPED AND QUADRUPED.  In my household , I cherish the interspecies relationships between my husband and our cats. Here Dr. Martin (aka Chiboogamoo) and Dr. Tao collaborate on Sunday morning relaxation. The other feline, Sapelo was present at the taking of this photo. (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

THE PILGRIM BOAT. I draw every day, no matter what. In the same way I ask my students to write every day, no matter what. We do our "work" in order to make discoveries. Judgements are to be suspended. Instead we proclaim: NOT GOOD. NOT BAD. JUST IS.

Recently I have taken to drawing "The Pilgrim Boat" as I am ready for a new adventure. I believe my blogging students are providing me with new ideas. Some students are blogging about math. One particular student has named his blog, The Beauty of Math. Those of you who like to follow Hallelujah's Pilgrimage, stay tuned for some math inspired images! Thanks BLOGGING STUDENTS! (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

ANCIENT TREE IN PRESENT TIMES.  Hallelujah for the color yellow and how it makes me happy right now! Hallelujah for the Ginkgo trees' yellow leaves in fall as they transform our environment into a colorful artist's palette! Can you believe it that the Ginkgo is a  “living fossil”?  It has been on Earth for about 270 million years. In addition to its brilliant yellow leaves each fall, for centuries its fruit and leaves have been used in cooking and to enhance memory.  My brilliant husband, Chiboogamoo drinks a cup of Ginkgo tea every day to reinforce his considerable cognitive powers!  I absolutely LOVE the ancient Ginkgo tree with its celebratory fall yellow leaves! Enjoy this vision of beauty now for on one day, a Ginkgo tree is known to drop all of its leaves! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN LIFE'S RELATIONSHIPS. This "abstract" word (RECIPROCITY) fell out of my notebook this afternoon, and I laughed! It was left over from an assignment that I have my blogging students do in order to make the intangible more tangible! I ask them to write a three-lined poem doing the following: LINE 1) Give the abstract word an action. LINE 2) Dress it in something. LINE 3) Summarize the action. So the poem might look something like this:

Reciprocity sings and dances all day.

She is dressed in multilayered silks of blue, pink, yellow and white.

When she twirls in her daily celebratory dance she repeats the words, "The feeling is mutual!"

I have learned late in life that our relationships with one another should be reciprocal, that we shouldn't expect friendships to last if there isn't a strong sense of mutuality. When we love someone, when we are friends with someone, we should want to celebrate the flow of give-and-take! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me and tell which photo here you are interested in and the questions that come up when read what I have written beneath it. Are you curious about me?