It’s April! What are you anticipating? Where have you been? At the beginning of May, I’m starting massage school! So I am preparing for class, discovering how I learn best now, and trying to shake off the worries of the uncertainty of going back to school. And I am excited for the new career—and way of connecting—that I’ll get to start practicing this time next year.
A drawing to consider
We sang “off book” for one of the songs in our performance. If you’re formal about it, you fold your binder and hold it horizontally at your side. And you sing from your heart and your memory. It can be intimidating, and it is beautiful.
I was having trouble memorizing a series of phrases (indeed, the ones I quoted in March’s essay), so I eventually drew them out as a little story. It helped so much!
Basic drawing skills aren’t just for making art. They’re for thinking and learning, too. You only have to be brave enough to shake off that terrible comment that that one teacher made about the accuracy of your crayoned mountain lion. (And I know you can.)
A lil’ quotation to read
A couple weeks ago, I went to my favorite book store to buy Bodies are Cool for my kid’s kindergarten class. (If you have not heard of it, check it out because, seriously, everyone needs the message of this book in their heart.) On the way to the back of the store, I spotted a book that I remember now has caught my eye before. Self Care Won’t Save Us: How to Fight Burnout with Solidarity and Social Change. I let myself buy it this time.
I’ve been indulging the author in reading the first half of the book, which discusses how hustle culture affects us all, and how it got to be that way. I’ve dug into a lot of that in the past, and it is validating reading it. But just now, I’ve skipped to the section about what we do about it. Here is something powerful:
Many of us aren’t able to push back at work, or leave a bad culture, or change our workplace. But every one of us is in charge of what we believe about the world.
What do you believe about the world? What is important to you? I find that I answer these questions best through a combination of my own musings, reading and watching things that get me thinking, and especially: enveloping myself in a community of people who endeavor to move through the world in the same way I am trying to do.
Something to carry with you
I adore spring. The buds on the trees, the crocuses peeping up, and, especially, I love the return of birdsong. And yet, my body now associates spring with the trauma of having an infant at the same time that COVID started. So far, my body notices it long before my brain deciphers what I’m feeling. Even after I notice the unease, it takes me awhile to place where it’s coming from. I expect I’ll get better at that over time.
So, I’m making space for the feelings, assuring them that they make sense, that I—we—did deserve better. And I’m sharing how I’m feeling with my loved ones, and receiving their love and validation, too. However the season is greeting you, I hope you are making the space to greet it in turn.
In case you missed it!
Mentioned in this issue: Self Care Won’t Save Us: How to Fight Burnout with Solidarity and Social Change by Caroline Moore.
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