It’s been a week. Honestly with the Covid numbers increasing. Our election not getting called until this weekend. There is still an unsettling teetering and uncertainty to all of it.
And that’s why I’m going to just offer you something that I heard this week. Teacher coach, Elena Aguilar offered this quote in her recent Bright Morning Podcast that really resonated with me,
Do what you need to do to tend to your own needs, so that then you can be there for others.
That’s it. Unapologetically. If you needed permission…you have it.
Spend the week connecting if that’s what you need.
Spend some time in reflection.
Reconnect with a friend.
Reconnect with an enemy.
Play a movie for your class.
Assign a project that you love but doesn’t fit in the curriculum.
Talk to your students.
Tell a joke.
Watch a funny movie.
Laugh.
Cry.
Then breathe.
A full body breath.
Make a donation.
Buy yourself something.
Whatever it is, do it fully and with gusto.
And then after fully tending, just like a garden or a flower or a baby who needs you…check in and see what else needs tending. And then do that too. Really try to build that awareness muscle. It’s trying to get your attention more than you may realize.
But when we pause, we can actually begin to hear and listen.
And then we will build trust in ourselves, with ourselves.
After we tend, only THEN can we be there for others.
So I’ll leave you with another week of tending to what matters, whatever that may be. It’s rather uncertain and highly unlikely that next week will be any more certain than this one, but there’s no doubt that if we begin to tend to those things that we need now, we will be what the moment calls for.
So what are you tending so that you can care for others?