I was so grateful to be invited to a media release event by a member of the District Student Advisory Council (DSAC) in School District No. 57 (Prince George) as a faculty member from the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in the School of Education. This invitation was my first EVER as an academic. Honoured. I loved that I was invited to the event by a student. The student follows me on social media (and I know her personally). And, this event was timely, personally and professionally.
The event was the media release of “Raising the BAR (Bystanders Against Racism).” The initiative came from the students during the pandemic with a deep desire to address racism in this community of Prince George, and beyond, during the pandemic. They were unable to go to classrooms during the pandemic due to restrictions, and this video series was an excellent response take a close look at racism in day-to-day life and to the recent SD57 Report on Indigenous Education.
“Raising the BAR” is a four part series. See links below. The event entailed the first three videos followed by a Q&A for the mayor, superintendent, and school trustee. The questions leaned into (1) how did it make you feel? (2) what can you do in your role to address racism? (3) how can we support in student voice and agency? (I will apologize and hope I have the questions correct, but this is how I remembered it.)
I was so struck by the event in so many ways. First, being a formal school trustee and working with a “district student leadership team” from where I was on the board, brought back for me many good feelings of student agency and voice. I believe in student agency and voice as an educational leader, educator, and parent. The wisdom of their current experience and points of view are valuable and insightful. I was so pleased to see this work being produced and motivated by students.
Second, addressing racism keeps tapping my shoulder ever since George Floyd’s death. When that event happened, I was shocked, disturbed, and frightened… as a second generation Chinese Canadian. The stories that were shared in the video series ring true for me. I feel like they were telling my story in many ways. I spent most of my life trying to BELONG and FIT IN. What that entails is denying your culture, your language, and how you look. Ignoring racial remarks was an accepted norm.
Third, my fire was stoked. I have been facing this question (particularly during the pandemic) of my ethnic heritage, ethnic identity, and ethnic pride. I stand beside Indigenous Peoples because I can understand cultural genocide and ethnic erasure. The difference is, I can go back to Hong Kong to find out who I am as a Chinese person, learn the language my parents spoke (Cantonese), and engage in traditions and culture that are unique to Hong Kong people. Indigenous Peoples cannot.
I spent most of my life being someone I am not. I have been learning in the past few years since George Floyd’s death and during the pandemic learning how to be true to who I am as a second generation Chinese Canadian. I am a product of Canadian policy and my parents brought me up so that I can have privilege and advantages in life so that they could give me A GOOD LIFE. As much as I appreciate that, I am also driven to bring to light the voices of students and those of marginalized populations.
Serendipity. I am a wholehearted believer in the idea that things happen for a reason. Racism is real. Racism is hurtful. Racism is not always overt. Systemic racism, lateral violence, and preservation of the status quo are persistent and prevalent. At this event, I felt validated, angry, and motivated to continue the work that I am doing. I am not hiding anymore, curbing my voice to accommodate others, or pretending that my work or voice do not matter. I have agency too. Together, change will happen.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, March 05th, 2022 | Comments Off on Addressing Racism
What is happening in the world today and everyday. The pandemic has been a test for humanity and honestly, I think we are failing. We are witnessing Russia attacking Ukraine with the world paralyzed. No one wants a world war when mental health is fragile at best. People are wanting their sense of power and control back; their sense of agency. Sadly, this feeling (and need) is escalating. I thought that the freedom convoy was one exemplar of extreme activism (with spitting hand hateful words). But invading another country, threatening others, and many lives lost I begin to wonder what this is all about. Why are we here and what is the purpose of being here?
This could be an existential moment. I have been having many during the pandemic and my #pandemicreflections on my professional website makes me realize that there is no separation of personal and the professional from self. The work (or war) is not with others, but with our own being and our egos. We are in Week 102 of this joyful blog series that I thought would end 75 weeks ago. Well, I stand corrected. And the 2-year anniversary of this blog series is almost here (the week when the pandemic was declared in British Columbia and my work shifted to remote learning).
So much has happened since for me and it’s hard to believe that I have witnessed war, floods, fire, and hateful acts against Black and Indigenous Peoples. I have experienced hateful acts of lateral violence, systemic racism, and marginalization. I am a second generation Chinese Canadian with no language, little ethnic identity, and privilege as a teacher educator working in a higher education institution. My parents created that for me. A life of privilege so that I could have a “better life.” Complicated. Given all of these events, I am woke to this privilege, the marginalized, and the radicalized. I am one of them and live in both worlds. I am thankful to see this.
This blog post has taken a different slant since I first started it yesterday. I wanted to write about SATURDAYS ARE SACRED… and they are. It took some time to creat a routine that honours who I am and my time I need to self care, rest, and mindfulness. I sleep in. I get weekly chores done. I hang out with my friend in the afternoon and evening (having a glass of wine, snacks, and dinner to unpack the week). I love taking the time to take care of my kid, my home, and myself. I am hoping to get outside more to go for walks, I might take up yoga, and use Saturdays as my writing day. #METIME
Can you see how good my life is? I will not take it for granted. I have freedom. I am safe. I have food and shelter. I have my kid with me. I am employed. I love the work that I do. I interact with wonderful people. I am learning. I live in a war-free zone. I can only have gratitude. Life offers us so many lessons and what the pandemic has done for me was to get quiet with myself and understand what is really important to me. I love my kid. I love to teach. I love to learn. That’s it. I get to do that and I am so lucky. I am creating my own path and make my own decisions. This is freedom.
My heart aches for the Ukraine, for George Floyd, and for humanity. We have to see ourselves out of this mess. The pandemic cannot get the best of us. We have to be more resilient. I’m not pointing my finger at the pandemic. It will be something that we will be living with for a very long time (until we can learn the lessons that we have to learn). The pandemic is a test for humanity and it will continue to iterate itself until we can see each other as equals and as peoples. Until then, we will continue in this struggle. Look inwards. I’m done fighting. Listen. We can do this.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, February 26th, 2022 | Comments Off on Saturdays are Sacred
Week 101 – February 20, 2022 – Feeling more grounded
I am surprised how long it has taken for me to feel rested, to feel grounded. I did not take the winter break to take a break. I was writing. I was not giving myself a break and kept forging forward like there would be an endpoint. The truth is, this is a “forever thing” at least for now as I am building a new career in academia. Yes, I acknowledge there will be up and down times, but I have to find a way to make this new way of being sustainable. I needed to prioritize sleep and rest as my first step.
It’s taken about 3-weeks of deliberate rest to get to this new place of being. In my first week, I may have slept 1-2 nights that week where one of them was most likely the Friday night, which is the end of the week and I had to learn that Saturday was a guilt free day. That was something to grapple with in my quest for rest. I mentioned earlier that a colleague and mentor said to me, “take Saturday to rest.” At the time I thought, how was that possible? How do you take a day off? I really did not get it. Now, my body demands that I take Saturday off and honestly, it’s been a blessing. So grateful.
By the second week of intentional rest, I had about 3-4 days of sleep where I went to bed and said to self, “work can wait.” That was hard to do. By this week, I think I had 6-7 nights of a good night’s sleep. Thursday night was always tricky because I taught all day on Friday and I have to plan and prep for that day. It takes time as I am juggling meetings during the day, so often I would stay up late. I slept guilt free this Friday and Saturday nights. Sleeping in. I have no problems with sleep. I had more problems with finding the intentional time to sleep. Now taking it, I feel great.
Ok. There is a consequence to rest and sleep. I’m not as productive. After listening to my colleague present in my class about time management, what I am realizing is, I have to use my time more wisely. I can see that. When I’m tired and working on a 24-hour clock, there are no boundaries. If I’m blocking out time to sleep and rest, I need to do the same for work and writing. The non-cognitive time or non-productive time need to be reassessed. I hope to adopt the first step of THE BIG THREE, the ideal week, and my daily routines. I am stoked to take the time to use my time more productively.
It’s amazing how good I feel and how receptive I am to doing some things and I need to re-evaluate about what I am not willing to do. I get a little overwhelmed sometimes about what people think and not trusting my intuition and expertise. I am practicing how to park some of those ideas and delve into the work of James Clear and Atomic Habits. What kind of person do I want to be? That’s the million dollar question. I look around and I do see qualities in others of whom I would like to be. These are #goals. In the meantime, part of who I would like to be is a well-rested person. I’m here.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, February 20th, 2022 | Comments Off on Feeling Rested
I will admit, I am in a dilemma. Of course, inspired to write a second blog post this week because I find writing as an exceptional way for me to make sense of what is. What I find about writing is, answers emerge from the flow of text (or making text). Also, I have created another extension of my make-work contraption to access my blog via app, Bluetooth keyboard, and iPad. I put this all together so that I can continue to blog, think, and contribute to the digital community.
Blogging has ironically been my safe line to extroverting my thinking during the pandemic. The pandemic has be strangely isolating and there is always something within me that believe that I can just adapt. There are limitations to how one can adapt, but I also believe that learning takes patience and time (one of the First Peoples Principles of Learning) and learning involves exploring one’s identity (another First Peoples Principles of Learning). Learning is experiential and holistic and lots of what we learn and understand are from the land and people.
Living and introverted life as an extrovert has been challenging and my pure excitement to connect with people is evident and sometimes over the top. That said, I am learning more about being introspective and spending time doing the tough work from within, I believe that the pandemic and my #pandemicreflections has made me a better person and I hope I will continue my work on this pedagogical journey.
Now onto my dilemma… SLEEP. I have been juggling life, research, and teaching. I don’t think that my lived experience is unique, but what I am realizing is REST and PLAY are integral to my success as a researcher, writer, and educator. It has definitely served me in the past to work all hours to get things done. I would lose sleep and sacrifice my physical and mental health to achieve goals and what I think is expected of me. As a result, my spiritual health suffers and lose sight of what’s important.
This week and last… I’ve been focused on sleep. I did not do that well a couple of weeks ago. I may have went to bed at a reasonable time for 2 out of 7 nights. Last week, I went to bed at a reasonable time most nights with a couple of early mornings to get things done…. but not all things got done (like marking papers and providing feedback in a timely manner). As a result, I wondered is sleep was worth it.
I woke up this morning, as a pushed the snooze button, I CHOOSE SLEEP. And so I did. I know that sounds like an unusual request to self, but I have to take deliberate action to sleep. Although I had a pretty descent record of sleep this week (admittedly, not 8-hours per night), I still wanted (and needed) sleep. My body is tired and is asking me to do something else to make this lifestyle of academia sustainable.
What I am learning from my mentors is, follow my passion, my joy, my love. I call this MY JAM. I spoke about this many times in previous blog posts about thinking or believing that my jam was listening to other people’s jam. I love going to Circle Craft in Vancouver to listen to the artists and entrepreneurs about their product and passion. If I was honest with myself, now looking back, I think I just wanted what they had, but never knew what my jam was or would be. I had no idea.
I am beginning to understand what my jam is. I think other people can see my jam but I have to realize what my jam is. It’s becoming more evident as I am embedded in the pandemic and defining what’s important to me. It’s not about achieving and doing what others expect from me (even though that’s part of the paradigm of academia), but I am driven about to trying new things and part of my work is not only to serve students and the student learning experience, but also tell these stories as well.
Knowing this will help guide me in my dilemma. I want to sleep. There is no question. I miss it. I love it. I can’t live without it. I just read in my Google search that people of my age should be getting 7-9 hours a night of sleep to lead a healthy lifestyle. OK. I have a goal. And I do feel way better cognitively, physically, and spiritually. I’m not 100% but I will get there. I want to return back to daily walking habits. That routine has been on and off due to the weather and the demands of work. I have recently given up eating meat and I feel really good. That was a step in the right direction.
As I listen to and read more about Atomic Habits by James Clear, I am reduced to the quality of my habits and routines. Writing on a daily basis and reading regularly are other aspects I want to do and bring into my way of being. I am also delving more into my interests and shift thoughts of intentions and plans into ACTION. I just listened to a beautiful presentation by Dr. Shawn Wilson who said that Indigenous knowledge is about relationships with everything and practice LOVE IN ACTION.
I love feeling inspired and as one of my mentors and friends said to me… research is ME TIME. I really get that. What nourishes me on the inside is in service of others. I am learning and will continue to learn on how to make this happen for myself and find a balance within my dilemma between sleep and work. I feel that I am getting closer to a solution to the problem and that each step I take is in the right direction.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, February 12th, 2022 | Comments Off on The Sleep Dilemma
The day after the best day of my life. Ok. I’m hoping for more excellent days in the future. Right now I am using a keyboard that I bought a century ago for an iPad I no longer own, but I saw it this morning and thought… hey, I can use that keyboard with my phone. And, so I can. Here I am using this keyboard with my phone propped up is a fine balance so that I can blog on my phone (because I have locked myself out of my blog… FOREVER… after I changed phones) and this is awesome. I am so enjoying typing out my thoughts versus thumb texting. This discovery has absolutely made my day and I just had to blog because of that. Why not? I have to figure this out some way.
I don’t think that I will be editing like I had when I had full access to my blog. I would get totally caught up on how the text was formatted in the final product, but also I would over obsess about crafting my words so that it would fit perfectly in the space for that paragraph. If you follow this blog, you may have noticed that there the image for each blog does not appear on the cover page of my WordPress site and that the text within each blog are ”messy” as I perceive it. It’s my lack of access, but also an opportunity for me to let go of things I cannot control or spend time to figure out how to make it look pretty. I’m done with that.
I am super happy though about this keyboard and using Bluetooth to connect my phone and WordPress site to a QWERTY keyboard where all of my fingers and one thumb is activated. Now this feels good. It almost feels like I’ve come home. Actually, that’s what this blog post is all about… coming home. I don’t want to appear sappy or spooky, but as time has been passing through this (hopefully) once in a lifetime pandemic, I have been feeling more like myself. Until recently, I’ve felt like myself and as of yesterday, I am myself. Ahhhhh… what an incredible feeling. And what’s so mesmerizing about this whole journey of enlightenment or joy seeking is that MY BASELINE IS HAPPY.
What does that mean? I will admit that for most of my life I’ve been trying to find myself. Meaning, I would try to FIT IN, do what I’m told, or do things that I thought other people wanted me to do or expected me to do. I was so lost in the muck of things that I had totally lost my sense of self. The mission was to find happiness. I’ve bought books on finding happiness and sparks of joy, but never thought it would be attainable. I just thought that I would have to move through life feeling like I was happy, but sometimes it did not feel like the real thing.
The pandemic, disruption in my work, and collapse of my marriage… I had no choice but to engage in PANDEMIC REFLECTIONS to reflect and shift my life around. In doing so, I thoroughly evaluated my values and what was important for me for months. At first, I was still in the “I should” mindset, but now I’m in the “I know” mindset. This is a good feeling. And, what I have realized is, I know what makes me happy. I know what’s important to me. And, I know who I am as a person. I think the last time I felt this way was in Grade 9 and the time before that, maybe Grade 1. Thinking that I had to live up to other people’s ideals or expectations minimized my spirit and who I was a person.
Now, I understand that everything that I have been experiencing and perceiving are my own doings and the pandemic reflections and help and generosity from others allowed me to look within and surrender. The only person I am trying to impress is me. The only person who needs to feel satisfied is me. The only person who needs to be happy about me is me. That’s all that matters and I am so grateful to have people around me who had the patience and kindness to walk with me. What I have realized is, the strive for happiness was really me asking me to get to my baseline of who I really am, which is happy. I am here.
I take care of myself because I respect myself. I have my voice because I trust in myself. I take action because I believe in myself. This is big for me to understand and knowing this I can stand tall and feel proud. Yes, people out there are getting tired, frustrated, sick, or angry. There are protests about fighting for rights, freedom of speech, and personal sense of agency and choice. As much as others are extroverting their fears and anxieties, blaming others for what is, and trying to find their sense of power with the collective mindset and movement, I have found solace, peace, and happiness by looking within and being the introvert.
I am happy. I am excited about this new life. I am safe. I am happy. 🙂
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, February 09th, 2022 | Comments Off on Happy is My Baseline
Hello Year of the Tiger and it’s off to a good start. I had a very good week ranging from connecting with others, connecting to place, and connecting to self. I loved meeting up with former students, going out to dinner with friends, and staying connected to mentors and colleagues. I feel very lucky to be in the place I’m in and I feel like myself. I am grateful.
Gosh. Look at this place. This photo was taken at Cottonwood Island in Prince George. I went walking with a friend. It was a gorgeous day. I loved connecting with her today, and with another friend later in the day. It’s an incredible feeling to be myself, to live in my values, and be in community. I know this sounds like and obvious thing to do or be but it’s something that I had always wanted and I feel like I have arrived. It’s a good feeling.
With all that is happening in today, I can say that I am thankful to have a place to live, I love my work, and I love living with my kid. My friends and colleagues are amazing. I love to teach and learn, and working with teacher candidates makes all that I do worthwhile. I am so happy that I take Friday nights and Saturdays off to rest, relax, and reflect.
Pandemic reflections have served me well. Albeit 99 weeks of reflection, but so much has happened in the last few years that I cannot help but understand that everything has happened the way it was supposed to. I look forward to this new lunar year. I had a very strong start and hope this luck continues.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, February 05th, 2022 | Comments Off on Connecting to Place
As we head towards the lunar new year, I feel more optimistic than ever despite the pandemic. We’ve recently acknowledged the 2-year anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 being in BC and I started in March 2020 to write a weekly blog on my “pandemic reflections” to humour myself thinking that the pandemic would end sooner than later. We are almost at Week 100 and still trying to overcome the fifth wave of Omicron. I am imagining this weekly blog (via phone) will continue for quite some time as I am warming up to the idea of living with COVID-19.
As an extrovert who loves to high five, hug, or punch someone on the shoulder, being out and about during the pandemic is not safe for me or others. Much of the last 2-years I’ve been reprogramming and reflecting. I’ve been doing my own personal pivots and I have never felt better. I can honestly say that “I feel like myself.” For awhile there I was feeling more like myself but I think I have arrived and it feels great. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. I suspect the last time I felt like myself was in Grade 9, which was in the 1980’s.
No regrets. Life brings you to place where you are suppose to be. It’s always the right place and the right time whether if we believe it or resist it. I look forward ti the Year of the Tiger. My brother and sister has named this year, the Year of Chris. I can appreciate that. There are still lots of changes on the horizon and I invite them. I have nothing to hide or be scared of.
I’ve been in my midlife unravelling for the last 10 years… a gradual state of transformation. The pandemic has been fruitful as it forced me to slow down, stop, and be silent. I am very grateful to be working throughout the pandemic and oddly prefer to teach online to isolate myself from others. However, we are back to teaching in person and I’ve got my booster. I have to be ok with getting out again.
DINNER FOR ONE was an excellent litmus to how things are and how I was doing. My kid was working and I opted to come at the usual time to pick her up instead of waiting for her phone call. I waited for about 30 minutes in my car. Not particularly fun (and kind of cold) that I opted to go inside to wait. My kid got me a seat in the lounge and I had excellent food and service. What a nice treat for me and I had a great time being with myself and in public. I look forward to the rest of 2022.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, January 30th, 2022 | Comments Off on Dinner for One
Ok… I had lasagna today (at a friend’s place) and candied salmon a couple days ago. Nothing is absolute, but happy that mod of what I’m eating lends itself to a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I feel a lot better and I can see the abundance of what is. I don’t feel deprived or missing out. I am just feeling more happy.
It’s been one week into MY NEW LIFE. I declared January 16, 2022 the as the beginning of my life. Admittedly dramatic but I just felt things have changed for me. I felt more aligned to MY WHY than ever and I am more authentic to my values and myself. Honouring me and my strengths and knowing that I’m in the service of others fills my heart. ❤️
One week in to this new way of being (and living) and I feel blessed and joyful. Nothing is perfect and sometimes expectations are not met, but that’s the point of it. I feel guided and purposeful. I don’t feel scared and if I’m being judged, so what? That’s not about me. I need to feel good about what I do and understand how it aligns to my why and how it serve others.
I also know that I have to take care of myself. Some days I feel over worked and over extended and it’s ok to stop, poses, and rest. I needed to sleep and took that opportunity last night. I went to bed at 11pm and slept in. Guilt free. I woke up when I was ready to rise. I took the morning for myself (with a hint-o-work).
What’s strange is, I tried twice today to jump into work and my computer had no battery power. Huh. That never happens. I thought I plugged it in before leaving to my friend’s house. Apparently not. Before blogging on my phone, I went to my computer and it wasn’t charged again. It was a sign I took the first time, and reminded a second time… STOP.
The work is not going anywhere. It will be there tomorrow. I have a tonne to do, but that doesn’t change. I’ve done some “work” today but the other work will have to wait. My mental health and wellness matters. Again, if I want this new life to be sustainable, I need some practices that are just meant for me. Right now it’s Friday night curling, Saturdays, and blogging. I’m super grateful for what is.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, January 22nd, 2022 | Comments Off on Feeling Gratitude
Wow. I just love looking at my last post that says “Honouring Rest.” Hello? I was in my computer all day today to make a couple deadlines. I was up late most nights working lady week and dropped a couple things off my plate to get things done. Ahhhh… there’s so much more to do. Now it’s almost 2am on Sunday. I thought I should blog now. I’m in bed and on my phone. You’d think I’d want to sleep but no… I was so excited I stopped working at midnight that I took some time for myself. While I was resting and watching a bit of TV, I heated up a bowl of leftover fried rice. I’ve been recently on a meat cheat. My kid tends not to eat red meat or poultry. After a couple days of eating meat… that’s it, I’m done.
I can’t do this anymore. my body is not happy with me. I thought it would be joyful to try time with meat products and I don’t feel good. I just talked to my class last week about burnout and listening to your body. I also told them I’m not very good at it but I’m always trying and learning how. I felt it today and confirmed by how I feel. It’s goodbye meat. I don’t think I’ll miss it. I’ve been holding into meat as if it’s part of my identity and in some ways it is with my Chinese heritage and memories of my mom. Something just clicked with me tonight and it’s time to let go.
Also my #OneWord2022 is COMMIT. I’m not going to do anything unless I can commit to it. Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian. I’m not sure if I can go vegan. My sister is vegan but I think this is a good compromise and will give me some flexibility. I just went through my kitchen cabinets and fridge and removed anything with meat. The food bank wins and so does my body. I need to listen to it and it’s speaking to me. I’m trying to do that with rest too. It’s about making decisions and sticking to it.
This is a step in the right direction. Goodbye SPAM. It was good while it lasted. Now it’s hello hummus. Lol. My sister eats a lot of that. I’ll figure this out. It’s time for a shift and I’m ready. Time for bed too. Until next week… ☺️
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, January 16th, 2022 | Comments Off on Goodbye Meat
Oh my… I’m sitting in my Lazy Boy reclining chair (my favourite and posh purchase of 2019) napping and having narcoleptic moments. It’s 5pm and as much as I have much to do, I can’t feel guilty about rest. I joyfully slept in today, made macaroni and cheese for me and the kid, and drove her to work (aka. The 1.5 hour drive to work ritual). I recycled and took out the garbage and sent out a few emails. Admittedly, I’m pooped. Long nights during the week and lack of sleep to get work done, it’s ok to take a moment to pause.
My thinking is, the time I take to rest will essentially be investing time to my level of productivity. After a long week with little sleep and high demand for productivity, by the time Friday afternoon rooks around I have to shift gears and focus on myself and wellness. I am lucky to have many mentors, friends, and colleagues who help, guide, and question. One of them suggested this notion that rest actually helps with productivity. I was skeptical at first but over the last few months, I’m convinced.
I still keep long days and nights but when I approach Saturday, I have to slow down and rest. Friday nights I curl. I’m so happy to return back to the sport and I have an awesome team. I feel incredibly lucky and I have so much fun. My body, on the other hand, is not so happy. it’s been awhile since I’ve last curled and I’m physically not the same. Nonetheless, I love to curl and by the end of the game and night, I’m spent. This is a good thing. Getting ready to play transitions next from work to rest. Saturdays I sleep in and feel guilt free of taking time to recycle, clean the house, or just veg on my recliner. It feels good.
Now writing this blog post at the end of the day (Saturday), my head does not feel groggy. I feel rested. Grounded. Calm. Even though I have a tonne of things to do and some things that are overdue, I can only do what I can do. I have to make an effort to prioritize what’s important to me and rethink how I do things as I learn things. That’s all I can do and want to do. This way of being I attribute to the pandemic. Admittedly, I’ve said to a few people this week that I am grateful for the pandemic. It forced me to slow down, reflect, and make really important decisions. Hello 2022!!!
Had there not been a pandemic, I would have continued in this life of doing things for others and losing myself in the whole mix. I was numb to my life and my feelings. I lost touch of who I was and who I am. Pausing helped me to take a moment to question and pivot. I was resisting my life. Creating boundaries like rest and honouring rest is respecting me and my needs. I can’t be last anymore on the priority list and proving myself to others doesn’t matter. What matters is happiness and joy.
I love my kid and that she’s with me now. I love her to bits. I love the work that I get to do. It’s challenging and fulfilling. My work is aligned to ‘my why’ and it’s taken many years to get here, yet everything I’ve done mattered and led me to this place at this time. Finally, I’m grateful for the people in my life who lift me up, who will walk beside me, and who I can trust wholeheartedly. I have an amazing community, I love working with students, and I’m excited to engage in this thing called research. I am learning and I can’t ask for anything more. There are and will be tough moments, but resting is key to my success.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, January 08th, 2022 | Comments Off on Honouring Rest
Week 103 – March 5, 2022 – Stoking My Fire
