The week before in-service for school (so the last week of July) I decided to set myself a series of 30 day challenges. I'm working on that whole 30 countries before 30 thing, so I figured I'd stick with the trend.
Two of the challenges related to health: 25/30 days of eating well and 25/30 days of doing some kind of physical activity. I hit 23 days for both, which is really good for me! And this is taking into account that those 30 days included in-service and the first week of school, which are always chaotic and throw my schedule and eating routines off. Most of the physical activity came in the form of walks. Walks around my parents' neighborhood, walks around the school, and walks around Shelby Farms. I have never been an athletic person, but I found walks to be just my speed. Plus, I have discovered podcasts! And I listen to them on my walks! History! Scandal! Drama! I binged one called "Not Past That" and I am currently binging "Dark History." I have learned so much! 10/10 would recommend podcasts and walks. 10/10 would also recommend Shelby Farms for the animal friends (pictures included below).
Another one of the challenges was to read two books. I already told you about the first in my post about my trip to Costa Rica (Night Boat to Tangier), which I finished when I got back home. The second book I read, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, was significantly less annoying. And it was recommended by Reese Witherspoon! In Tangier, the two main characters seem not to realize that they are annoying and probably caused lasting trauma to the girl they're looking for (the daughter one of the characters). However, the main character in Palace realizes she has trauma, acknowledges that her trauma makes her do things that are not 100% moral, and is working through her trauma. The only thing that bugs me is that the author uses Memphis as a minor setting and basically describes it as a hell hole. And as a Memphian, I take offense. Yeah, we have problems, but we're not that bad!
And speaking of being a Memphian, my last challenge was to take two outings. And for one of those outings, I chose to visit the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Now, I have lived in Memphis most of my life, and have just never gotten around to visiting this particular museum. So, I decided to play tourist in my own town a little bit and visit. Was it the best art museum I've ever visited? No, but it was a nice way to spend an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon. They have a variety of exhibitions, including an emphasis in exploring diversity in the collections they display. There's a whole section on why women are absent from the list of great artists of the Renaissance period, and another exhibit of art from the African continent. And one of my favorites was the Persevere and Resist exhibit by Elizabeth Catlett (https://www.brooksmuseum.org/catlett). They also have a contemporary and modern art section, which I was completely confused by.
In addition, the Brooks Museum has chosen to remove their famous portrait of Andrew Jackson in light of the Black Lives Matter movement and our country's increasing awareness of the dark chapters in our history. And Jackson, Tennessee's most famous and "popular" president, does represent some of those dark chapters like slavery and the Trail of Tears. However, he is not the only president that has those shadows. I mean, like, Thomas Jefferson is a prime example. And as someone who has perused school history textbooks, we do tend to skim over those dark parts when we really shouldn't. Call it critical race theory or not, but we must address all parts of history, even the ones that make us look bad. And I think the Brooks Museum did that well. Even though they did remove the painting, they put up informational text in its place with a smaller replica of the portrait and information about Jackson and his place in history, both the good parts and the bad parts. They even have a comment book where your can give your personal feedback about the decision. And you should have an opinion, and you should, if possible, dig deep about what you know about our history. As the saying goes, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.
Anyway, now I am onto my next 30 day challenge, so who knows where I'll go next. There's always something new to learn!
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| Oh, they're buff. |
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| Oh deer! |
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| The lovely Brooks Museum |
