All at Once

What does it take to ground oneself? It was only a week or so ago when I had officially stepped down from the BCSTA Board of Directors. I wanted to get things “off my plate” so that I can get my dissertation done. Since the BCSTA AGM, I find myself engaged in a plethora of things that continue to capture my attention. For example, the same day that the AGM ended, I rushed home to be one of the parent chaperones of my daughter’s fundraising event washing cars for volleyball. The next day, I participated in the Canadian Education Association (CEA) regional meeting in Vancouver to discuss the future of education and how to we know that we’re getting there. Two days after that, I went to West Vancouver to see one my fellow trustees speak at the North Shore IGNITE. A few days after that, I traveled to Langley to attend EdCamp35, then to Abbotsford to watch my daughter play in the U14 Girls Volleyball Provincials. In the meantime, my dissertation went from one editor to the next, I interviewed a few candidates for the Sunshine Coast Community Futures Board of Directors, and I helped organize and facilitate an All Candidates Forum in my community that was focussed on PUBLIC EDUCATION. Oh wait, then I just started a new Twitter edu-chat called #mentorchat yesterday with a teacher from South Carolina and we’ve been collaborating online. With the times in between, I am still tutoring, driving my kid here and there, and cleaning the house as best I can. I still have to do my taxes, prepare for my upcoming course I am teaching at SFU, and write the trustee study as I had meant to do a few years ago. It happens all at once. I still have to complete my dissertation and defend, review policy in my school district, and now prepare a presentation for IGNITE35. These are all good things. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to engage in so many different things that captures my attention. Sometimes though, you just have to stop and take a break. Yes, I made room on my plate by stepping away from some things, but I uncovered other things on my plate I had no idea that were there until I took something off. I am so glad that I took a walk in the rain today and connected with nature. That’s all you need sometimes to get grounded so that you can happily face the next “thing to do.”