I’m not one to jump on trends right away. Joining Facebook, crocs, or whatever fidget-spinner-ice-bucket-challenge happens to be dominating the popular conversation, I tend to rebel until absolutely necessary.
But the “Word of the Year” movement… that I can get behind. There’s something about choosing a goal for the new year in one word that speaks to the poetic efficiency of my soul, and I love it.
I was starting to narrow down my word when I read a post from a social media presence I follow. Rachel, from Finding Joy, frequently posts on motherhood and striving for happiness amid all the chaos that is life. I often enjoy her posts, but her entry on January 1st shook me to my core. In it she writes,
“For the last two years I’ve felt like I’ve been holding my breath. Waiting. Not doing, but waiting. Waiting for things to change, waiting for the next month, waiting. Being. And it’s been beautiful, but friends, my spirit is tired of waiting. I’m restless.I’m energetic.I’m motivated.I’m excited.I’m ready.I’m ready to do.To be. To finally exhale and start moving To stop waiting, to start being, to start doing.”
My scrolling fingers halted midair and I thought, ‘that’s it!’ She put words to what I (and I imagine many of us) have felt the last few years. Particularly in education, we are paused. Stuck. Halted. Not knowing whether we’re waiting for it to go back to normal or wanting normal to go away forever. And I couldn’t agree with her sentiment more…it’s time.
So my word for 2022 is bold. To join those turning education on its side in the name of what’s best for kids, despite the fact that it’s not “what we’ve always done'” or what testing culture dictates.
So here’s to writing our own job descriptions instead of waiting for the perfect job to appear. To not stifling revolutionary impulses in the name of- ‘let’s wait and see how this all shakes out’.
May 2022 be the year we find a way to see the loved ones more, because you just never know.
To finally write it, sing it, explore it, and learn it.
Perhaps it’s the clarity that happens after the pause. Like when you wake up in the middle of the night with the most brilliant idea (usually lost by morning).
Do you know what followed the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak?…The Roaring 20’s. That means 100 years ago, Americans felt a similar unrest; craving change in light of social and political circumstances.
I realize it’s slightly different from my 2016 word, ‘rest’. And perhaps I’ve eaten too many fortune cookies this week, but I’m all done resting.
“Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.” -Betty White
Cheers to bold footprints, my friends. And happy new year.
*** From the minute I cracked the spine on Thrivers by Michele Borba, sunlight shot out from the pages and the hallelujah chorus rang out behind me. I had heard her speak on one of my favorite podcasts- Empowered to Connect. Michele Borba studied people who not only survived but THRIVED in life despite a traumatic background. She figured out what these people had in common, and (here’s the best part!!)… she makes it teachable! I ordered this book with my trauma teacher hat on, but read most of it as a parent. A must read for sure.
Teaching the Good Stuff 