Interesting post, and first off, I have to say that I love the book Everyday Blessings. I think it has a lot to say beyond parenting, as well.

I find that I too have bumped up against that frustration off and on the last four years. The more I’m immersed in virtual conversations about innovation and change, the harder it is sometimes to function in a traditional institution with its boundaries. But then, a page will turn, and I’ll see the seeds growing in my own school (seemingly overnight after four or five years), and then I feel a little more hopeful. It’s like the mythical creature in Dr. Doolittle, the “Push-me-pull-me”.

I do think focusing on what our own gifts and talents are helps us become both happier and more in the “flow,” so I applaud your efforts this year!

As for twitter, rather than seeing it as an alternative or barrier to presence, I see twitter as a state in and of itself. Sometimes I don’t think I have time for twitter, so I turn it off b/c I feel I can’t be fair to my work or to my twitter followers and would rather do one thing well than two things poorly.

Most of all, just remember that your happiness is up to you (based on your actions not your thoughts); by how you frame your work, by whom you associate with, by how you respond to your circumstance (and today’s circumstances in education are quite dire for everyone).

Everyone deserves happiness, be happy in the knowledge that the work you have done on your blog and twitter has improved all of our circumstances by helping to point the masses in the direction of true north in education (even if we aren’t always moving in that direction).