Learner. Human. Joyologist.
I'm done hustling for my worth. I spent my twenties doing that, and it's exhausting trying to make everyone happy. It's exhausting trying to "prove" myself to other people. Everyone has an opinion. Even when we involve others in decisions, at the end of the day, decisions have to be made. We have to do what we believe is right even when other people disagree. We can't make everyone happy. We are not pizza.
The most important work is the work we do on ourselves. As human beings. Everything else is secondary. At the end of the day, our self-work is really the only thing we can "control." How we respond to the world around us in the now has the potential to shape the future in a good way. Feeling big feelings doesn't mean we are failing, it means we are awake. It means we are noticing our own pain and the pain around us. It also means that we have the capacity to feel the good emotions in a big way too. And some days, we will just need to push through. That happens. That's ok. Sometimes. Just not all the time.
Let's listen. Let's build alongside educators and students. We cannot expect people to feel ownership and engagement in something that they were not a part of building. Imagine what we can do if we build together.
We cannot be good for others if we are not good for ourselves.
Perhaps we should start by loving ourselves as educators. As Mr. Roger once said, "You can't love someone else until you love yourself first." Through all of the hard stuff. The mistakes. The days when we just aren't feeling it.
Energy is contagious. Spread the good stuff.
Perhaps this is radical, but how we spend time with people is one of the greatest ways to change this world. How we show up for each interaction, each gathering, how we are in community with each other -it matters in a big way. We have the power to make people feel strong and special and capable which means that the opposite is true too if we aren't thoughtful.
Write that tweet. Send that email. Have that conversation. Do whatever you can do share the good word.
Love the people. Try hard. Care big. Learn what you can. Sleep soundly.
I wonder if this is what we are missing in some of our "data" meetings in schools. Do we have pictures of kids at the table? To start, they are our WHY. They are why we want to be better. That's a big part of our identity as educators. But also, setting goals for improvements is nice, but it's not the work. The work is the small moves made over time that can make a big difference. Too many data meetings sound like, "We need to get these scores up." Well, yeah. We know. But how? And because we don't know what the best strategy or step to take is, we may not take a step.
MEGHAN LAWSON 