Finally! Six days into “vacation”, and I finally accomplished a “morning off!” I slept in, stayed in my pjs, and curled up with my coffee, kitty, puppy, and book just because I wanted to! In fact I just noticed that it’s almost 1PM and wondered if I should feel bad that I wasted my morning... On the other hand, my sisters would be proud that I'm finally sitting down with a book! They often made fun of me as being the English teacher who doesn't read. In my 13 years as an English teacher, I read PLENTY though! It's just that instead of the publications most of you were reading, I usually read journals, essays, and graphic organizers from 17 year olds.
I don’t turn off my work mode easily; I usually keep working or at least thinking about work for days after the calendar says I’m off work. Truth be told, I still sent a handful of emails this morning before I started my book, because I knew those work-related conversations needed to move forward before next week. But I sent those emails from my bed, at 10AM, which still felt like a luxury and therefore a morning off to me.
A lot of people in the field of education seem to have this struggle too. Although there are a few lucky ones who have mastered the art of compartmentalizing; they switch into their personal life as soon as the work week ends, and they enjoy every single day of their weekend, or in this case their winter break. But most of the people I find myself connected to also struggle to settle into relaxation mode. I’m not sure if that should be an encouragement that we're experiencing a “normal” challenge, or if we've simply gravitated to others with the same problem. At least there’s comfort in not being alone there.
And that brings me to the quote on bookmark that came with today’s book: “We read to know we’re not alone.” The other side of the bookmark depicts all the social media platforms that you can use to connect with the school library. But despite all the ways that we read or interact with people on social media these days, it seems like we’re still lacking a sense of true connection, true belonging. Truly impactful conversations hardly ever happen on-line, and rarely bring the meaningful follow ups that would come with real life relationships; even most enjoyable internet-based conversations either get cut short or overstay their welcome. But we all seem to be too busy, or too drained, to regularly pursue those richer interactions in person. Unless maybe you’re the lucky one who can compartmentalize to leave work behind and enjoy your friends or family on a regular basis? Maybe one day you can teach me how to do that!! That would be a meaningful conversation indeed!
So now that I finally feel like I’m on vacation, it kind of makes sense that the first thing I did was open up a book to read, then turn to write out my thoughts. It makes me think William Nicholson had it right. Reading does help us feel more connected--to the characters, to the author, to others who read and shared the same experience through that book. And I guess I should also thank whoever you are that read my thoughts today. I hope it helped you feel like you’re not alone as well. And if you want to have a follow up conversation about your thoughts, consider this your invitation! (Even if it’s just online. Haha.)
Oh, and P.S. This is definitely a book worth "wasting" your morning on!
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