Not sure what happened to this post last week, but thank you to those who let me know it was blank! Let’s try it again: It’s been two weeks since school let out, and I’ve been trying to de-stress. Some days are better than others. If you aren’t a teacher, you might think we immediately jump right into vacation mode and chill out. Um, I wish.
While I haven’t had the crying episode, I sleep. I mean, all I want to do is sleep. It feels like an escape. I start to think about school and next year and I get stressed out and tired and sleep calls to me. Indeed, what IS teaching doing to us?
I once attended a Dar Williams concert and she spoke about transitions and how she kind of needed armor for them because they were so hard for her. That’s how I feel at the start of most things including summer.
“How do we balance the sentimentality of the past, the grace of the present, and the dreams of the future in the spaces we inhabit?
This is a summer of change for me with empty nesting starting in the fall, so as the nest changes, I must evolve. As someone recently told me, “The nest isn’t empty. The nest is always inside you.’”
I love these words and this post much. The question you pose is so beautiful and fitting for me right now. My tears came this week when I read something I wrote about summer six years ago and realized how different it is now with teenagers. But then...not getting stuck there, the grace of the present, the dreams of the future...” Also, those past stages of life included many challenges of their own so there’s a freedom to embrace.
I too bought a basket at a thrift store for my garden so I am more than ever convinced we are kindred spirits. I use mine for harvesting as that is the chore I sometimes need to be reminded to do. Your garden looks gorgeous.
Wow! What beautiful Rose's. And I love that basket. It's great to have a calming non-white part of your life too. Helps enormously. Congratulations on your new book!
Editing, Pruning, and Smelling the Roses (take two!)
While I haven’t had the crying episode, I sleep. I mean, all I want to do is sleep. It feels like an escape. I start to think about school and next year and I get stressed out and tired and sleep calls to me. Indeed, what IS teaching doing to us?
Beautiful roses!
I once attended a Dar Williams concert and she spoke about transitions and how she kind of needed armor for them because they were so hard for her. That’s how I feel at the start of most things including summer.
“How do we balance the sentimentality of the past, the grace of the present, and the dreams of the future in the spaces we inhabit?
This is a summer of change for me with empty nesting starting in the fall, so as the nest changes, I must evolve. As someone recently told me, “The nest isn’t empty. The nest is always inside you.’”
I love these words and this post much. The question you pose is so beautiful and fitting for me right now. My tears came this week when I read something I wrote about summer six years ago and realized how different it is now with teenagers. But then...not getting stuck there, the grace of the present, the dreams of the future...” Also, those past stages of life included many challenges of their own so there’s a freedom to embrace.
I too bought a basket at a thrift store for my garden so I am more than ever convinced we are kindred spirits. I use mine for harvesting as that is the chore I sometimes need to be reminded to do. Your garden looks gorgeous.
Wow! What beautiful Rose's. And I love that basket. It's great to have a calming non-white part of your life too. Helps enormously. Congratulations on your new book!