Making room in our lives

Guy Kawasaki posted a great article about Arianna Huffington's new book, Thrive. See it here: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140324113914-2484700-let-s-stop-the-glorification-of-busy?trk=mp-author-card

Guy points out some of the highlights of the book, and I acknowledge that these people are probably the biggest hypocrites of all time. They have worked 80 hours a day to get where they are now making hundreds of thousands of dollars so that they can now live the life they want. I know that most Americans would rather sit back and enjoy life than sit at a cubicle writing up TPS forms and answering emails. With the cost of groceries, electricity, gas, and healthcare skyrocketing, how can we do this? It doesn't seem like an easy task to me after spending the last three years near poverty. We are finally digging our way out, but not without a lot of sacrifice and a lot of challenge.

All that being said, I admit that I glorify busy. I have to get this done or I have to get that done, and I'm always on a time limit. My house needs to be cleaned, dishes need to be washed, clothes need to be laundered, and the countless hours of computer work that I do on top of it all leaves little time for actually enjoying my life. If I regret anything, that would be it.

I love my life, my daughter, my husband, my garden, and my home. We aren't perfect, and we've said many times before that we don't have a lot, but we have each other. This means more to me than anything in the world. This may mean that I have to cut some things out of my life in order to fit the big ones in. I'm okay with that. I don't want to be too tired when I get home that I can't sit down with my daughter and draw a picture or read her a story. I don't want to be too busy when I get home that I can't give my daughter a bath and put her to bed.

As the world gets busier and busier and we go along with that trend in keeping our phones anchored to our side checking everyone else's lives instead of our own, we lose sight of what is really important in our lives. This summer I have connected with new people and reconnected with old friends. I have taken my daughter to the park and to the Farmer's Market. There are still things that I want to do with her. I still want to do yoga with her out on the front lawn, swim in the pool at City Park, go to the zoo, hike a local trail, walk the dogs, go fishing in the lake, and pick raspberries in the mountains.

All this being said, I can also relate this back to teaching, too. An article that I found on LinkedIn also mentions how we must teach our kids about how to wonder and see the world in a different way. As a teacher, I have a great opportunity to be able to do this.

Annie Murphy-Paul writes, "Focus and concentration are essential, of course. But so are introspection and reflection, and Immordino-Yang and her colleagues recommend that adults help children find a balance between the two modes: by regularly unplugging our kids’ blinking, buzzing devices, and by providing time and space for a quieter, more inward kind of entertainment. By making room for wonder in our children's lives, we'll help them develop a more genuine and gratifying definition of success." Read full article here: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140324115341-84796303-making-room-for-wonder-in-children-s-lives

This sort of contradicts what I'm teaching, which is computers; however, there are ways to stop the class and the students and have them introspect and reflect on what they have done or what they are going to do. I've even done this with my daughter when she gets frustrated with a toy. Stop, put it down, and come back to it later. We all need to step away from time to time, and while this may not provide a deep, wondrous experience every time, we often are able to come back to our work with a new sense of experience and perspective. Throughout my career in learning software development, web development, and social media, I have often taken a break and come back to projects with a greater depth of understanding and renewed wonder in the project.

I learned a great deal about education through my studies at Colorado State University, but I've learned even more about education through my own life. I've learned that it takes time to learn a new skill. It takes time to connect and create valuable relationships. It takes time to create. We have to take time for ourselves so that we can bring our best selves to our students, our relationships and our lessons. In my efforts to be optimistic, I believe that this is achievable, and we can change and grow from our experiences.

One tip for today that I hope will make your life easier! I found Canva.com as an alternative to Photoshop. It costs to publish your designs, but it is easier to use and can provide professional graphics at a much lower cost. It's been out for a while, but if you've overlooked it before, you might want to go back and take another look.