This year I have an especially difficult class. A cohort of students who truly test my patience, who make me put to use every single trick in the book that I have tirelessly collected over a two-decade long career of teaching.
Burnout, if I don’t actively take steps to avoid it, is a very real possibility.
When many things are out of your control, the thing you must focus on controlling, is your own emotional regulation.
Self-care looks different to different people. For me, it means reading and it means writing.
It may seem counter intuitive. Using more brain power when I’m already mentally shattered. But here are 10 reasons why reading and writing add wax to this candle:
1. Reading never fails to give me perspective. It takes me away from the here and now, forces me to see the bigger picture, to remember my place in the world and that this, too, shall pass.
2. Writing helps me to process how I’m feeling. Some people talk to a trusted friend or to a therapist. Some people exercise or drink or eat. I self-medicate by putting words on paper. It helps me get clarity.
3. Reading inspires me. When I read, I highlight passages that resonate. I collect tidbits to refer back to later. I curate a stockpile of quotations consisting of the collective wisdom of an anthology of authors.
4. Writing synthesises my scattered musings. Blogging, for example, makes me sort the wheat from the chaff, makes me drill down to the real nitty gritty, makes me get to the heart of the matter.
5. Reading distracts me. Every educator, at some stage in their teaching life, has experienced the Sunday scaries. The inability to sleep while you fret about little Johnny, the dread in the morning because you know how hard your day ahead is going to be (because what you do matters). Reading provides respite.
6. Writing makes me feel productive. When I come home from a tough day in the classroom feeling less than effective, writing provides the vehicle for making a difference in a different way. Trying to turn my unfortunate encounters that day into creating something new that may help others. Concocting some lemon-infused-scribings out of the lemons given to me at work.
7. Reading makes me more empathetic. Putting myself into the shoes of writers from differing walks of life, I am reminded that there are different sides to every story. That student who bit me, he’s struggling with strong emotions and his medication needs review. The student who yelled at me for talking to her and not five minutes later yelled at me for ignoring her, she’s just a tiny human trying to make sense of her world.
8. Writing keeps me gracious. I don’t go to the gym, I avoid the dentist, I eat treats more often than I should, but one daily healthy habit which I do maintain is keeping a gratitude journal. I search for glimpses, glimmers of happiness and kindness and fulfilment. And I dutifully record them. I always find something to be grateful for.
9. Reading sparks fresh thought. My current read, BRIGHT SHINING: HOW GRACE CHANGES EVERYTHING by Julia Baird, reminds me that trying to make others happy is more cheering than pursuing your own happiness. That being a candle means consuming yourself to light the way for others.
10. My writing will outlive me. While feelings and emotions are fleeting, texts you create are permanent. It brings me joy, and also peace, knowing that a piece of me will live on through my jottings. When I write, I’m planting seeds that may one day grow into the most stunning of roses. Maybe, one day, someone, somewhere, will highlight something I wrote and add it to their collection. Maybe a former student. Maybe one of the ones who’s required so much support this year. Who’s run me ragged.
And maybe when I read this post 6 months, a year, 5 years down the track, I’ll look back on this post and smile, knowing that I soldiered on, that I survived. That I acquired some grace. That I grew.
Because I read and I wrote. I let the beauty of words be my therapy. I took care of me.
My students deserve that much.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you’d like to receive every new blog post I publish straight into your email inbox, click FOLLOW below 👇
ATeacherIsLikeaCandle 