Both my daughters (see above) are eloquent writers, not only apples
falling close to the tree, but trees in their own right. My
teacher-colleague-daughter Talia just posted a reflection on Facebook about summer for teachers, using the
brilliant metaphor of the airplane oxygen mask. I proudly share it here. I
should also add something she didn’t—that she went to a one-week writer’s
workshop in New York to further develop her 5th grade language arts
curriculum and spent another week getting her new room at school ready. So it
wasn’t all beaches and (sun) cream!
Today was my last
day of summer vacation.
You know on
airplanes how they say that you have to put on your own life mask before
assisting others? Summer is a teacher's life mask, so we can assist others full
time the other ten months of the year. I grabbed it eagerly and have been
pulling deep breaths all summer long. It’s easy to fall into a trap of feeling
guilty about having a two-month summer when so many only get three weeks. To
feel guilty about taking all the time for myself- “I should work summer school
and make extra money. I should spend a month working on my curriculum. I should
use the time to do some overdue house projects...”
I had a summer that nourished me to my core
because I took it unabashedly for myself and I am grateful. I am grateful for
the chance to travel- to climb warily out of comfort zones, to get lost on
purpose: I spent a mapless day wandering the streets of Barcelona, danced until
I couldn’t stand anymore at an outdoor music festival on a lake on the
Pyrenees, and hiked nine consecutive days in Swedish Lapland. I am grateful for
friends who graciously hosted me, opened the door and let me right into their
European lives, for such quality time with my chosen family amidst a general
friend culture of a brunch here and there.
I am grateful for
the opportunity to disentangle my phone from my palm. I am grateful for my
tent, which was my home for half the summer and the many paths that gently
guided me. I am grateful for time with my family, playing together. And lastly,
I’m grateful for the time to read and write regularly, a practice that grounds
me emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. I wrote in my journal every
single day and I read ten books. And now, I feel refreshed and ready to assist
23 others. . .
One last inhale of
oxygen and a steady reminder to myself, to you, to everyone to grab that mask
on the weekends and strap it on tight because getting through the school year
should not mean holding your breath.
The blog post was really good! many things that i had no idea about traveling, now after read out your whole blog post, i learnt many things specially how to spent leisure time during the summer vocation. Thanks for sharing such a good post
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