A few weeks ago (probably as he was compiling his web-famous Top Ten Lists), Larry suggested that I go through our Day in a Sentence archives and cull out some of the better sentences for an End of Year Review. That’s more difficult than it sounds. There were so many good sentences and who am I to judge the quality of the sentences or the stories behind the words?

I decided on something I call “emotional resonance.”

As I went through the many wonderful sentences and read them aloud to myself, I was searching for that tingle inside of me that meant the words had touched me emotionally. I recognized that some of these same sentences were still very familiar to me, even after a few months time. (I also did not choose any of my own sentences). There really are some wonderful, reflective writers out there and I am thankful they send their words my way (or the way of our guest hosts) every week.

So, here, in no particular order at all, are the sentences that resonated with me this year:

  • “This week I learned that a friend whom I haven’t seen for a long time is quite ill and probably dying, which put into perspective the whole rest of my week, and made another comment I read stand out for me, which was that ultimately the only problem is isolation, and the only solution is connection, leading me to ask myself this week how each activity led to either connection or isolation, and to choose the ones that led to connection, and I have to say that the thing I (still) love most about being online is that it’s one vast complicated web of connection!” — Marian Thacher
  • “Write this for her, write that for him, write this other thing for someone else, will there be time to write for me?“– Karen
  • “On a Sunday morning when gray skies promise snow and light winds sift through barren branches, inside, with warm scrambled egg bellies, we read newspapers and listen to the humming that emerges from a newly built fort of blankets on chairs.“ — Tom
  • “As a former community organizer turned teacher, I’ve been reminded this week of the old organizer adage that taking shortcuts will bring you to detours, which in turn will lead you to dead-ends.” — Larry
  • “This week’s resounding applause from parents and students at parent teacher conferences reinforced my belief, as unpopular as it may be to many, that you can reach them best if you are courageous enough to step into their world!“ — Sue
  • “There’s nothing more satisfying than connecting people with people and opportunities that support their passions, their great thinking minds, and their vital voices; it’s like living your life in hyperlink!“ — Susan
  • “Swimming in a murkey sea of curriculum and meetings, I grasp for moments of bouyancy, clarity, levity; a lifeboat looms ahead, providentially named NWP Annual Meeting, and I strike out for it, suddenly energized.” April
  • “Time trickled slowly through meetings while outside, leaf-fall turned the grass into sunset.” — Diane
  • “Sometimes it’s okay to leave your guilt bag at school for the night and focus on other things.” — Jeff
  • “This has been a peaceful week as I move into conference mode next week for two action-packed weeks that I will be sharing with great friends of collaboration but first I have to get rid of a head cold and get my guitar ready to go more public to get my hands to stop shaking when I play for the world beyond my safe walls of my home.” — Bonnie
  • “Monday-8:35 am-ready for the week, lesson plans set, bring em on! Monday 3:24 pm-Can I stay home tomorrow and not grade papers and not plan lessons and not read the novel we will be starting in a few weeks and play on the computer all day and watch all my Tivo’d shows and just be a kid again????? Huh, can I?” — Ms. Q
  • “Contemporary medicine said it wasn’t possible, but mother nature proved them wrong: my wife is expecting.” — Joe

And I leave you with this sentence, which still has me wanting to know more:

  • “Everything came crashing down, but in the meantime my students and I got to murder a man.” — Mr. Murphy

Peace and please contribute (or keep contributing) in 2008,

Kevin