closing out the semester

To be completely honest, this year started on an indifferent foot. I wasn't not excited for the year, but I wasn't excited for it either. I just went through the motions of starting the year and setting up my classroom. So, as I am now closing out this first half of the year, I find myself a little bored; I still love my projects and made some tweaks to make them fit this class, but I find myself bored in the motions of the day-to-day.

So, instead of stressing about reinventing the year or "falling in love" with the year, I will go on Winter break and dive into my self-care; I will do everything I wanted but lacked the time or energy for. I will sleep in, work out, pick up a book, and make myself a breakfast I never have time to make during the school week and sit at my canvas for the inspiration of the paint.

I write this not just for fellow educators but as a reminder to myself - a few years ago, I lost sight of my passion and allowed the stress and boredom to win and ended up with health issues that, if not caught at the time, could have become more severe. So, for the last five years, I have made it a point to let go of the stress and boredom - working from home in 2020 really tested my willpower and my depth of passion for our profession because, at the end of the day, passion only goes so far when physical and mental health comes in as a factor.