The Year of Rest

In 2017, I rediscovered myself during my #yearofyes. I had so much fun traveling, exploring, growing professionally, and meeting new people; but I needed to process my experiences and take some downtime to reflect.

So 2018 has been my #yearofrest.

During the New Year’s celebration, I intentionally scaled back from social media for a week, which was incredibly difficult, because my family and closest friends all live hours away. I find it to be a double-edged sword. My tribe gets upset when they do not see pictures of the kids and me, my surrogate mom worries about me when she does not know what I am doing, and I miss connecting with them. However, I can get sucked in to the game of comparisons, and the facade of being virtually connected often heightens my loneliness. I definitely do better when the apps are not on my phone or, if they are, the push notifications are turned off.

I committed to reading more. I suffer from anxiety, and reading helps me to stay calm. Plus, I just love it. My goal has been to read a book a month, and I am doing pretty well keeping up. I have discovered a new passion for audio books, which is perfect when I am in my car.

The other surprising component of my #yearofrest has been the practice of mindfulness and meditation. I was asked last year to begin incorporating emotional intelligence into my presentations. As I learned more about it, I realized what a blessing this tool could be for me. In fact, I now get to teach what I always needed to learn– living in the moment, self-compassion, empathy, and the value of human connection.

The year of rest has brought some adventures, too. I still love traveling– especially impromptu road trips to local restaurants and hidden treasures. However, I have tried to include my family and close friends as much as possible, because I am a firm believer in making memories.

This year, the kids and I played in the magical and rare snow flurries that fell on the anniversary of my Mom’s death; we spent Spring Break exploring Helen Keller’s home, Ivy Green; we found a real Coon Dog Cemetery in the hills of Northern Alabama; we went to Disney World; we watched the sunset while eating dinner over the Tennessee River; I found a long-lost family cemetery in rural Tennessee; my daughter, her best friend, and mine went to Tupelo, Mississippi and Graceland to celebrate my daughter’s 8th birthday, where we toured the Lorraine Motel and had brunch at The Peabody; I enjoyed a wonderful mentoring conference at the University of South Carolina; I spent a day touring a beautiful Gulf beach with my best friend, T; I was a Guardian in Honor Flight Tallahassee; I spoke at a conference in Naples and took my surrogate mom along; and my two best friends traveled with me to a conference in Washington, DC, where I also spent an evening exploring monuments with my former student Eric and his wife.

Life has been good. And intentional. I make myself relax and rest, and I savor moments of silence. There is a wonderful bakery not far from my office, and I love to take breaks and go over for a cup of white peach oolong tea and a macaroon. I soak up the smells and tastes and actually experience the warmth and sweetness, whereas before I would have just rushed through it to get to the next hurried part of my day.

And I pray. I always pray.

A Night of Stars {Honor Flight Tallahassee}

I previously posted advertising the community event that my students and I organized for Honor Flight Tallahassee called “A Night of Stars.” It was a huge success, and I want to share that we hosted a packed house of veterans, parents, students and community leaders, including Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna.

The event featured catering by Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse and performances by the Chiles jazz ensemble and chorus.

However, everyone was there to meet and hear the stars, World War II liberators Bryce Thornton of Tallahassee and George Aigen of Valdosta. These gentlemen have both spoken to my students numerous times, but they never cease to move me. Each time I hear them, I learn more details about their experiences, and our audience was equally blown away.

Of all of the fundraising drives I have been apart of, this is by far my favorite. My heart was over-joyed bringing these generations together in the same room to honor America’s Greatest Generation. Honor Flight is such a fantastic cause, and I am proud that we were able to make this year’s trip to Washington, DC a success.