Memoir Part 1

I've decided to start a memoir. This will be another project. Underway is the nano novel that I am not working on systematically (still taking my time) and writing an article to Garden and Hearth and contributing to my weekly column at suite 101. As you can see, I'm quite busy. As most of my works, this is a work in progress. I will continue to add.


I Only Wanted to Join the Army

Friday , December 29.2006
The momentum of a Friday. After five busy and hard days teaching junor and High school students, I felt I just couldn’t check any more student papers today. The floor of my kibbutz home is on ground level with the earth of our new garden and meters away from the bulldozers furrowing up new land, new dirt for the new communities.

Instead, I speak a casual few words to my words as he heads out holding a bisquit in one hand and a banana in the other. Luckily for me both food items are cognates and I don’t need to think so hard.

He waves and says ‘bye-bye’ and I am facing the computer screen typical of every Friday images of the Sasson household. The ninth grade homework check for the week lays aside when I indulgently decide that I will continue writing but will stop until Ivry returns from the babyhouse.

Friday morning on Kibbutz Sde Nehemiya washes the week off and the drama of the EFL classroom. In another few hours, I will light the Shabbat candles, give thanks and blessing for the New Year and its tidings and say hello to 2007 in new teacher/writer shoes.

Friday the day for intermittent thoughts before grabbing the laundry, freshening the overheated house from last night’s cold spell, rush to order the house before Shabbat comes. And oh I’ve almost forgotten the carrot cake I was supposed to make, the strips fall just as quickly as I can count to three in Hebrew.

When I finally throw the cake in the oven and tidy up my papers, it has come to me. Time for my bath. I take Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man that I borrowed from the elderly couple who live just a few meters away from me. What? You’re going to read something about school in the few minutes you have left before little Ivry wakes up? In a bath of suddy warm water? Where’s your sanity? What happened to your sense of self?

It’s okay I think. I can handle it. After all, I can handle many things especially that involve adjusting to a new society, a new set of customs, language. My own intuition says that it was my father and the fact that I have family here and knew Hebrew and grew up in Jewish movements and attended a private Yeshiva until age ten that was all part of the package deal.

But there are other issues that would go unexplored until I decided to enter the EFL classroom. In front of a computer I can have my self back and drop the teacher front. (I have until Sunday to mark all those papers, don’t I) In teacher language, you have to stay on the ball but once I figure I step out of teacher identity I realize that my English did come from somewhere and I wasn’t just ‘born’ to teach High School students in Israel EFL.

EFL teachers in Israel are like one little community. A kibbutz is another conglommorate of a community and although is privatized, is still is a community. Tzahal, yet another community of soldiers. But before I joined these little niches of communities, I had to learn the culture and language of these communities. Israelis ask me why I continue to live here and I don’t want to feel too special. All I want is to speak English with my family and write in English. And it all depends on who is doing the asking. Funny but if it asked in English, I will remember uncoincidentally, why my poor mother transferred me to a Junior High school after studying at a yeshiva for six years, in run down Chelsea where I would get beat up at least once a month.

That was the biggest mistake she could have ever made as a mother.


But then after reading Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man in the warm bath, I realize that I have yet to materialize the fact that I have been living in coincentric circles for the last sixteen years, half of my life.

And this has brought me to writing this memoir.


Truthfully, I never thought I would stay in Israel this long.

What started as a simple plan to go to Israel and join the army, turned out to be a trade off for a quick and materialistic lifestyle, that bewildered and confounded me. I can’t understand how it came to be that suddenly I have my own garden. I see the sunsets and hear the birds. Where did all the sunsets and birds go??

New Year's Resolutions

I should be slowing down the pace of the week, after all the last day of Chanukah is here. Ivry just came home with his little Chanuka hat on and a bag of chocolate coins in one hand and his sweet challah roll in the other that they made in the gan. As quickly as he dashed into the kitchen, Haim scooped him up and settled him down for his Friday nap. As of this minute, he is still awake but tired. "Dorit, you should do the same" he said hinting that I should get some zz's since tomorrow we are going to going to be getting our car serviced and Saturday, our usual rest day will be occupied by yet more physical and mental movement.

After all, next week school starts up again, with a pace and a force of life that I have slowly grown to accept over the years. The holidays gave just a bit of time to figure out the theme of the 'light' - just a bit of time to embrace my small brood in the quiet pace of living that ultimately, I never get to feel during a teaching week. But now, I feel something has opened up. I am again at the starting point for this blog - words beginning anew. Of late, this is the agenda for nano editing that I am concentrating on the small skeletal outline for what has been just another file during the month of November, but that has yet to change:-)

I guess I don't have any New Year's Resolutions. I'm sure I'll make a few out faultlessly only to find that they weren't really what I wanted. I've learned to be flexible however as with all walking part of life.

So here goes yet another Friday afternoon figuring out what to do with the second rewrite, another one of life's processes.

Anybody else with a 'tale' of a New Year resolution?

Writing from Home

This week is Chanukah and instead of lugging my heavy schoolbag out into the cold enroute to school, I am sitting at the computer for a few hours rewriting and editing and sending off things I've managed to write this past week.

It's been an interesting fun week.

The morning hours are my best times of time to get a good writing haul in.
It's a nice feeling not to be rushed, to start the day much more slowly, to eat a hearty breakfast, and of course to spend more time with Ivry, with whom the bulb of writing inspiration happens, and ah, the home becomes quiet again with just me and Haim until the happy baby comes back at 4pm.

Ah, the the life of a writer.

I say 'ah' because I am enjoying the process side of writing, important for every writer starting out. I don't yet want to make the career switch to write solely for money because I fear that I won't be fulfilled enough. But in my heart, I feel that this is what I see myself doing over time. Actually, I woke up this morning seeing myself writing novels and books. So I guess I will have to continue to work hard to make this dream happen.

But don't get me wrong dear friends and readers. Writing is really not only about writing. Good writers always read. I've had a sentiment with regard to all the books I have looking at staffed on my light table, so I started reading The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer, wonderful stuff, which makes me want to get back into the writing groove again, so here I go to another day of words!

Allowing Yourself to Be

Do you have an opportunity to do absolutely nothing?

How often do you listen to your body's rhythms?

I decided that this is what I would do during our weekend at Kibbutz Nachsholim. I woke up hearing the sea from morning till night. Haim and I watched the sea roll over rocks. We were alone, no baby to entertain , no food to prepare no laundry to fold, no school work , papers or telephone calls. Just us and the sea. The result was a pad of paper filled with empowered yet random thoughts. Here is what my pen produced:


Writing is like dough rising. If you don't allocate enough time, it won't be a superb challah....

...I woke up this morning with the next story line swimming over in my head. I waited however until 11 o'clock to start writing it out. I had enough knowledge of craft to start writing...If I were more determined I would have written it down...

This incident reminds me of Pat Schneider's wonderful book Writing Alone and with Others. I don't rememember the chapter but on her writing retreats when she starts her writing projects, she doesn't start writing until the third or fourth day. She sleeps, takes a walk and then the words flow, like the waves.

I have always controlled my space, my words. I'm learning to let be and then slowly, the words will come.

photo credits to FreeFoto.com

Happy Chanukah Everyone! Merry Christmas to all!

Last night, Ivry and I lit the first virtual Chanukah light together through this really cute website I found through my teaching and we listened to a short animated movie of Chanukah (an adaptation from ("Twas the night before Christmas"). We won't be lighting the menorah together on the first two days of Chanukah since Haim and I are taking this weekend off to stay at a hotel near the sea and leaving Ivry with his grandparents for the first time. This is the kick off weekend I just need to start my Chanukah vacation from school, the second break - very much needed rest I might add. This last teaching period was particularly strenuous for a number of reasons. I started a Holocaust reading project with my twelfth grade class with Elie Weisel's Night. I tried to combine teaching and writing with nanowrimo.org and succeeded in writing a full length novel that has yet to be edited but ended in a headfall at school and I stayed at home for two days. Then, there was the new computer program called "mashov" at our school (short for feedback) and that took some getting used to and now the grades. Lots of new things yet, lots of things to be utterly grateful for.

This brings me to the theme of light since Chanukah is the Festival of Lights. I contemplate on how can we bring more light to our lives and each one as an individual? We are still living in incredible darkness, with many troubles and problems burdening the world and our lives. This was the question that my spiritual teacher Avital brought up. She herself studied with Yemima Avital, the legendary teacher whose 'scrolls' come from the school of independent thinking that Yemima Avital started back in 1977 in Israel. Once a week for two hours, I look inward past the lesson plans and the kitchen, playroom and computer for the more pressing issues that burden my soul (sorry about being trite) and hope to find the answers and/or continue to ask the question(s) as the week progresses. When I am not doing homework for the workshop, I am looking at the site both in its Hebrew and English versions. (The Hebrew one is more local oriented)Take a closer look at what this wonderful woman offered us - the gift of independent thinking.

At Chanukah, we light eight candles for eight day miracle. I'd like to open up this story of Chanukah to all and ask you (as well as myself) how to incorporate more acts of 'light' to our glowing worlds. After all, I am on the right start. I/we just need to maximize all what I/we do.

Lastly, I also took the opportunity send a gratefulness ecard to family and friends in the USA from Israel. It's good to have support even when times are trying even if the sentiment is only virtual. After all, it is the best that I can do. I'm grateful for what I have become today. I can only hope that I will develop more foresight to apply myself to my writing, my family and my work in ways that I haven't done before.

Life is truly a journey.

Happy Chanukah and to all, Merry Christmas and a fruitful New Year.

Learning to Write on the Spur of the Moment - with Noise too!

Ever since Ivry was born I have been writing more and more. Watching Ivry open a book immediately gets me thinking and observing. While the way he turns those pages and communicates about what he sees is definitely an article turner, my mind starts up with a memory trailer offering memories in turn for words - ah. If only I had them ready. I need a quick cup of coffee and wash my face, but sometimes Ivry and mommyhood get me writing on the spur of the moment.

I guess for mothers the spur of the moment issue is learning how to be efficient with time. Haim is always there to help me and I have a relatively decent schedule at school. But writing is not a pre-planned scenario. Ideas can fall from a hat from any direction at any time.

Take last night for instance. Friday night. He was fast asleep, the moon was pearly white and the wind was still. Perfect Van Gough scene. It was just me and Ivry. Suddenly my mind raced from different ideas for topics about motherhood then writing and motherhood, titles came forth then other titles came - like the tide rolling in - back and forth, back and forth. The secretary in my brain was at work filling topics in different categories. I, enchanted by the entire scene, decided it was time for paper and pen and bringing those, I wrote the rest what the lazy secretary didn't do. I hadn't hoped after all this, I would have a long lasting idea.

Mommy frenzy is more like how to squeeze in more writing time. I'm not used to squeezing a half hour in the morning before work. I like to take my time knowing that I don't have to rush to go anywhere. That makes the writing time at the computer much more meaningful.

I would like to think that all this writing on the psur of the moment business is really meaningful, will go somewhere, will take direction, will capture flow. This is where a lot of the best ideas come with a potential sack of words to follow.

I used to be very discrete about writing too - only alone, without music, without distraction. Now I've learned how to do it almost at any situation, any time of day and almost anywhere except for indoor stadiums and basketball courts. That I can't stand!

So do have these writing on the spur of the moment glitters? Have they developed into anything? I'd love to hear.

Check out my blog and articles on suite 101.

An opportunity for Freelance Writers

There are so many freelancing opportunities out there on the web. For someone like me who is eager and determined to see her work published, it often takes time to get to know which publications are right.

Through a supportive writer's group, I discovered suite 101. It is a neat place to get myself started writing about a subject that I feel very knowledgeable about - new teacher support. If you're someone like me, who is passionate about a subject and can write on a subject clearly and is willing to work hard to write interesting articles, I highly encourage you to check out suite 101 and see if you can write for them.

I believe online writing will only get bigger and there are many opportunities for growth. But it is important to start somewhere and I found suite 101 to be user friendly to use and navigate (I'm learning the technical ropes) with lots of helpful people. I'm assigned to an editor who checks my work and offers feedback and support. I'm learning important terms for online writing. I'm learning how the web work in terms of ranking topics and through it all, I'm actually paying more attention to the way I use language especially key words. (And here I am writing about what I teach in the classroom.. oh well, guess I can't get away from that!)

There is also a lot of trash on the web and one does need to be choosy. I like the format and operation of suite 101 - everything is under one roof and you decide how much you want to expand and grow. And since I don't have lots of time to waste, this seemed to be the best option as I can also draw from my own experience.

Suite 101 works with page clicks unlike many other sites that I have seen which work with ad clicks. Obviously you have to write clear and interesting articles in order to get a lot of traffic going. Over a long period of time this can translate into dollars and cents.

I quickly put myself to work getting to know how to use keywords in titles and subtitles and articles and blogs. And what is great is that I can draw on the twelve years of experience that I have in the field.

Before I go back and revise my nano novel, I need to start another project that involves lots of interactive training. Here, I am learning the tools for writing for the Internet and I'm finding it to be quite suitable now for my writing needs.

Has anyone recently started writing for the web? How else have you branched out?

A Publishing Opportunity!

While there is much talk about POD (print on demand) publishers and how reputable they are, not to mention the scams, I am striving for taking advantage of a great opportunity that lulu.com has given Nano finalists. A no-strings attached published book, but only if I submit a finished manuscript (edited obviously) by January 17. 2007. Not too far away.

What an opportunity! This just set my dreams on fire. I can see the dream glowing like a flame. It's time to find the courage to make those dreams come true. Enough talk!

If I decide to go for it, I will have a lot of work ahead. Knowing myself, I might take my time and let the first draft sit on a shelf, but I want to start editing soon.

It has always been my dream to see my work in print.
Wish me luck! Is there anyone out there who is ambitious like me?