by Magda Murawska, Ed.M.

I recently saw the new Broadway musical “Ghost.” Based on the hit movie starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, the musical first started in London before crossing the pond to the Broadway stage. Luckily for the audience, the stars of the show also crossed the pond, which means that they know their parts down to the t. I had initially been hesitant to go, thinking that nothing could beat the classic movie. But, I was truly and pleasantly surprised.

As I sat there (tearing up on several occasions, I will admit), one scene stood out above the others. It was the scene prior to the male character, Sam’s, untimely and tragic death. He and his girlfriend, Molly, had been strolling back from a late dinner when the topic turned to saying those three special words. Sam was one of those people that was just not keen on saying them. He had previously sang Molly a beautiful song about how he says “I love you” in every way other than actually saying the words. To Molly it wasn’t enough, she demanded that he say the words as proof that he really loved her. Though I quickly saw the irrationality in both her demand, I felt for her, understanding that sometimes hearing those three words from the one you love is like warm syrup on a stack of hot pancakes – just amazing! So as much as I wanted to yell “Just do it already, Sam!” I also realized that it was unwarranted for her to place this demand on him. We often make these demands on others, whether based on society’s standard or our own, forgetting that others don’t always live by our set of rules and expectations. As they argued about Sam’s inability to say “I love you,” the tragedy occurred.
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by Magda Murawska, M.Ed.

It’s hard to believe that April is here already. It seems like just yesterday we were braving the cold and windy days, bundling ourselves in layers of clothing. Now we’re greeted with birds chirping and the sun warming our faces. Spring often makes me think about new beginnings – life starting anew. Much like the effect New Years has, I become a bit more optimistic about life and am ready to conquer what’s ahead of me. It also makes me think about that list of goals that I set out for myself back in January. At the beginning of the year for the last few years, I have created a list of things I’d like to do in the next twelve months. It’s not like a resolution to be better or thinner, but a plan to do things that I haven’t yet done (like run a half marathon!), things I’ve been putting off doing (finishing that dissertation), places I’ve been wanting to visit (there are many). I try to keep the list as realistic as possible. There’s no way that I will be able to visit Belize this year, so that’s not on the list, but visiting some place new (any place) within the US (even if it’s just a couple of minutes from where I live) is. The purpose of the list is to motivate me to go out there and experience life. And it serves as a great way to plan outings, trips and new experiences.

So far there’s about twenty-something things on my list. As I look over the items that I promised myself I would do this year, only two have been crossed off so far. The thoughts of “You should have done more by now!” start creeping in and I start to feel a bit anxious, as well as frustrated that I haven’t been more active in checking these items off my list. Continue reading →