I'm Alicia. This is my "radical" journey.
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Days 19 and 20 I decided as part of my radical self-care routine that I was going to try drinking daily green smoothies. Yesterday and today I have been searching for different green smoothie recipes online. Today I made one with an individual pack of frozen fruits and veggies. I added green tea matcha, collagen peptide powder, water, chia seeds, and ice. I was going to add an avocado, but totally forgot all about it. I will try it with the avocado tomorrow. Do you drink green smoothies? If you do, let me know what you add to your smoothie. 
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Day 18
Today at work I handed out tiny samples of my anti-aging facial oil. Hopefully people from work can give me feedback on the oil I created. I look forward to creating a variety of aromatherapy-based skin care products to nourish the skin. I have a 3 day weekend so it will be perfect timing to create my anti-aging face cream. Let me know if you have any well-being or beauty concerns so that I can practice addressing those concerns with non-toxic oil blends and skin care products. Days 16 and 17 I am so very tired and sleepy! This week I have been preparing for an observation at school. I finally got it over and done with. Yay! I am looking forward to the three day weekend. I heard we may get some snow, but not worried since I plan to stay home nice and cozy. This weekend I may create a face cream. I can't wait to see how it turn out. My daughter will be going back to college Saturday morning. I actually need to create an essential oil blend for her to use on the eczema on her hand. I signed up for the aromatherapy certification program, and I will need a few case studies. Definitely can use her as a case study for my course. Is there a problem you are dealing with that you may think an essential oil blend may help you address the problem? Definitely let me know.  Day 15 Today I turned 49. Before I turn 50, I want to make some radical changes in my life. The countdown begins! I didn't do much sadly today to focus on my radical changes. I have been quite busy preparing for my observation scheduled for this week. After Thursday, I can better focus on the changes I want to make. One thing I am excited about are the courses I will soon take to eventually become a certified aromatherapist. I can't wait to begin phase 1! Tomorrow I plan to sign up. Are there any courses you would enjoy taking at this point in your life?  Day 14 I got up at 3am since I couldn't fall back to sleep so I decided to finish making two 2 ounce bottles of facial oil. One is for me since I absolutely love facial oil, and the other is for my friend Mary. It was actually quite exciting creating my own natural facial oil instead of buying one in a store. I plan on giving little sample size bottles to people at work. Funny how creating and coming up with new facial oil blends, can fill my life with joy. Is it because it is something different? Will it be something that I do not find quite exciting in a few weeks or month? Is there something you are creating that gives you joy?  Day 13
Today my husband and daughters took me out to lunch for my birthday even though my birthday is on January 15 (2 days from today). I had a great time. As you can see I had a quite busy day, but will go back to more serious reflecting tomorrow. Day 12 Today I started my routine about writing what I am thankful for and about the actions I must take to make me feel joy. It is so very important to focus on things that make you feel joy. The more joy you experience, the more joy you attract. Focusing on positivity will help me live a better life. My emotions and thoughts must be on what I do want, not what is unwanted. I hope I will continue writing about what makes me happy and what I want in life. Another thing I did today to help me with my One Little Word of the Year is work with someone who makes jewelry. I want her to make me a bracelet and necklace with my One Little Word. I can't wait to get the jewelry and be reminded of my mission this year. Do you have a morning or nightly writing routine? If you do, what do you write about?  Day 11 Today I was focusing on making sure I get a restful sleep. I added drops of lavender, clary sage, and cedarwood to my diffuser, and I turned it on 30 minutes before I went to bed. I then rolled an essential oil blend all over my face and hopefully the scents will help me fall asleep (besides the oils softening my skin). Hopefully, the relaxing sounds and wonderful scents will create a wonderful environment which will help me fall asleep. I will let you know tomorrow how well I slept tonight. I am excited that tomorrow I will try to create my facial oil, and will even try to create an essential oil bracelet. I can't wait! Tell me anything which helps you fall asleep. I am always looking for ways to fall asleep quickly. “Sleep is the best meditation.” Dalai Lama  Day 10 Today I finally had all my 5th graders start their Weebly blogs! They were so very excited. I am sure they are home now designing their blogs. How powerful it is to give children a voice. As you know my mission is to create a radical change in education. I hope students will be excited about taking on a passion project and documenting their journey. I believe all schools should be giving students time for genius hour. Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. Genius Hour simply allows teachers to provide students a choice in what they learn and how they learn it during a set period of time within a school day or week. Some teachers allot one class period or one hour per week. Others aim for the 80/20 rule, in which 80 percent of the time is traditional standards-based teaching and learning and 20 percent is student directed. Wouldn't it be exciting if you were given time to pursue your interests? I know I would have loved to have been given a choice. I am hoping that by doing this with my students, I can inspire other teachers in my district to give it a try. School should be about creating curious lifelong learners. If you were a kid today, what topics would you love to investigate?  Day 9 I love the 8 Pillars of Life described by Sheri and Nancy. Today I want to focus on the Creativity & Innovation pillar. I love the way Sheri and Nancy describes it. "Put your hands in the clay. Shape today, and invent what happens next. Believe in the abundance that will follow when you do work that you love, with people you love. Honor your inspiration. The Story: My Creative Spirit Soars." I think it is so very important that we all focus on Radical self-care involving the pillar mentioned above. It makes it so much more exciting when not focusing on "work," but on creating and innovating. Today, my friend, Mary, reminded me of focusing on our essential oil and beauty product business. We are busy creating beauty products using natural products. We are working on creating shampoos, facial oils, facial creams, lip balms, and hopefully we can create jewelry to add essential oil drops so that we can feel better throughout the day as we breathe in the wonderful aroma. “But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint of clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career.” I love how the quote states creativity is a way of living life! That really is what I am trying to focus on this year. I want to be fully alive. It is sad that in many jobs today there are people who are taking away or making it difficult to be creative. This is what is happening to many teachers today. Someone else is dictating what we can and cannot do in the classroom. I miss the years in which people trusted us to make learning fun. I hope changes will be taking place in education soon. Here is a great article explaining what is happening in schools today: How Schools are Killing Creativity So what is your opinion on creativity and innovation? 
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AuthorHi there! My name is Alicia Vilas, and I’m the NJ Hudson County Teacher of the Year 2020-21. My mission is to cultivate young changemakers and innovators. I love to connect on Instagram (@alicia.vilas) and twitter (@alicia_vilas). Archives
December 2020
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