Books and Baby...

This photo sums up the last few months. Teaching and mothering is all-encompassing, which makes for a boring blog, among other things....
Despite the break-neck pace of this semester, it has been a source of light and life. It's good to be reading again, thinking about big ideas and watching undergraduates' brains melt down with the profound questions of life. It's also good to be in a place that's flexible enough to really co-parent my daughter without her having to be in day care a lot. And she loves the people who care for her, so that's been a true gift.
About the picture: not only is a cutesy metaphor for what's happening to my daughter, and representative of my life now, but it's also a good intro to a book promotion. Becoming Human was one of the first books we read this semester, and remains a source of conversation with students. Jean Vanier believes in the increasingly unpopular notion of loving others unconditionally, including our enemies, as the path to true freedom. Of course I'm oversimplifying, but his view of reconciliation is one which transcends the labels of oppressor and oppressed, right and wrong. Vanier is the founder of L'Arche, an organization which sets up intentional communities which include both people of "normal" intelligence, and those with developmental disabilities. He's lived in these communities for years, doesn't think you have to be out to change the whole world, just to make your loving presence known to those around you. The book's worth a read.