Mental Health
End of Week 10 of the COVID-19 pandemic in BC and it’s time for my weekly blog. It’s also the end of Week 2 of being back in Sechelt. Time is really flying by. I’m not sure if we are arriving to our “new normal” or that I am a bit more pre-occupied with life with my kid, et al. I think it’s a bit of both. I have to admit… work is picking up. I am doing a few more online meetings, but I am glad that I am not 9-5 on Zoom like some of my colleagues. I am online 1-2 hours per day. That’s a healthy amount of online connection. I am feeling really good about returning back to the Sunshine Coast. I feel like I am back in community. I feel safer here and it’s much more familiar to me. I really appreciate seeing many familiar faces and it’s a lot nicer than living alone in my apartment. I am acutely aware of the importance of mental health during this extraordinary time of the pandemic and physical distancing. Being with my kid is part of my mental health maintenance, but also continuing with my #daily5kchallenge (something that I started after Week 6), and staying connected with my friends and colleagues via FaceTime or edu-walking. I feel very lucky to have a community whom I can lean on during this crazy time. I am also shifting gears and jumping in on the writing and publishing train. I just learned that the tenure-track position I applied for in February is moving forward with shortlisting, interviewing, and selection via online. I can see that this is a “big deal” but it was nice to engage in #bcedchat and unpacking the idea of NEWNESS. It’s exciting and scary, but it’s also a time for learning and vulnerability. This is so true. Although I will have to start the new school year online with my courses while trying to implement a new BEd program that focuses on “the land as teacher,” I am also prepared for this new way of being that includes reading, writing, and researching. A serendipitous #bcedchat. I need it. I am so grateful for my PLN. I have to really think about the answers I’ve given and look at self in the mirror. “Get the ego out of the way and ask… so what, now what?” Embarking on the new can be intimidating and uncertain, but there are many people out there in my learning community who are willing to help. All I have to do is ask. I also said… Be kind. Be patient. Be intentional. Less is more. Be reflective and reflexive… adaptable and flexible. Literally, I am scrolling through my responses tonight and adding them here. Got it. There is so much that I love about blogging, which in essence is journalling. There is something so magical about writing to flesh out my thinking. So, I would like to end my blog tonight acknowledging my blog as being another essential part of my mental health. it does not matter if someone is reading this or not. I have not been sharing my blog on social media even though my website and blog are public. What I care about is the opportunity to write, think, and reflect. It’s taken me many years to realize and appreciate how much I like writing and now my NEW LEARNING is to write academically but also what it means to write for a living. This is definitely exciting, new, and I am a learner.