Haikus and Other Talent Showcasing

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a fall haiku! In the end, 31 of our colleagues shared their celebrations of fall. The entire collection (plus my submission) are available at NOVAFall2020Haikus2 and it will make wonderful reading on an early fall evening.

As promised, I pulled the name of one author at random to receive a small wall quilt by me, and it was Meena Nayak, professor of English, Loudoun Campus. Dr. Nayak will be getting her quilt in the mail.

So many of the messages that accompanied the haikus spoke to the welcome opportunity to be creative, to be distracted for a few moments and to be part of a wider community. It made me think about what more we could do to achieve all three on a more regular basis, and I’d like to propose two ideas with the hope that you will come up with many more.

First, I’ll be starting monthly morning coffee chats.

Twice each month, I’ll send out an invitation via the Daily Flyer, and the first 24 people to respond will be sent a zoom link for an 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. coffee chat later that month. No agenda, just a Zoom “Brady Bunch”-style video chat promoting connection and conversation over the caffeinated or un-caffeinated morning beverage of your choice. The only rule: individuals will be asked to skip a month between RSVPs.

Second, I’d like to create more opportunities to share NOVA’s creativity.

We are such an incredibly talented community. I’m hoping some of you would be willing to host an evening Zoom webinar for your colleagues that provides a chance for us to flex our creative muscles. Are you great at composing Instagram photos or spoken word pieces? Cooking a great red sauce or the creamiest mac and cheese? Birdwatching? Meditating? Knitting? Reading a poem? Hemming pants? Making a flaky pie crust? Picking the perfect perennial? Arranging flowers? Recording a podcast? Appreciating opera or jazz? Understanding stock returns or a balance sheet? Choosing a great wine? The possibilities are endless.

I hope that we can get two to three 30- to 60-minute sessions scheduled each month. You commit to an idea, date and time, and to presenting; my office will assist in arranging the Zoom webinar and archiving the video. No pressure to be perfect—this is about coming together to celebrate NOVA’s creativity, learn more about our remarkable colleagues, and have fun. If you’re interested, let me know.