We all know the current state of our world isn't chill. It never has been, but after the last few years and the evolution of a pandemic, the chill is even less in our world! So how do we as educators, business owners, mothers, daughters, partners , wives, brothers and sisters take the time we truly need to chill and stay healthy?
Yes, I said it. We decide. Now I know you are screaming at the screen saying but I have 8,000 other things to do, especially at the end of a busy school year, I don't have time and I can't just decide to be chill. Well you do have the time and yes you can decide to be chill. It's a decision that you are making to not make the time. You can decide how you are going to react to the million different directions you are being pulled because I can validate without even knowing you that you are likely being pulled in so many directions it is hard to keep track. You could make the decision to let something else sit, or do it at a different time, but generally that is not how we are as people and I get it. I know the emails, the phone calls, the paperwork and requirements of our world are greater then most of us can even imagine. But in the midst of that craziness we need to evaluate how we can best be productive. Now I'm not talking about taking that 'self care' time that society has currently entered into telling everyone to take. I'm talking a few minutes here and there of silence, of time to regroup, grab a coffee or snack, clear your mind. By no means am I saying getting a spa day in or a workout isn't 100% on par with taking care of yourself but realistically we don't all have the time or resources to make this happen regularly. But we can spend time being mindful, sitting in silence, enjoy a sip of coffee that we actually get to taste instead of just pouring it down our throats to get it in our systems so we can go go go.
Now, I am no pro at this either, but I've learned I have the choice to be chill. I have the choice to continue living my day in the flurry of life or take the extra ten minutes a day to check in and be present with myself so I can enjoy my day without the misery of thinking what's next or about what needs to still be done. We don't prioritize, instead 'chill' time is the last thing we make space for because our lives are just too busy. But are they really? Is it really worth the burn out, exhaustion, and misery we make ourselves live with? I understand, I truly do, that there are times where it feels entirely valid to let chill time go on the back burner. By no means am I the queen of chill. But in the long run, putting the time for yourself on the back burner leads to further deficits in our ability to function which, after a while, piles up and makes our anxieties, fears, and not so chill behaviors and feelings creep into our daily lives even more.
I actually work very hard to chill. Which I know sounds opposite of how this is suppose to go but I plan to chill, I plan to make space for myself. I don't always plan the chill times in term of scheduling a message or yoga or whatever other 'chill' society has thrown in our faces over the last many years as ways to prioritize ourselves but I just schedule space in my day or my week that is open. If I need to nap I can nap, if I need to watch trashy reality tv and eat chocolate chip cookies I can do that, if I need to grab coffee with a friend then I do that. It is all about making the space, allowing yourself the space in your busyness. The busyness that our society in all reality glorifies.
So now that I have just given you my own version of a TED talk, here are some ways I have found that work for me to make the time, because honestly that is the hardest part.
This by no means is an exhaustive list, just things that have worked for me. Like I said above I schedule times throughout my day to chill. These times on most occasions don't have a scheduled activity but give me the space in my day to say, okay, let's check in and spend five minutes chilling out and re-centering myself so I can continue with my day. Even within my school day as a public school teacher I made sure to build these moments in, whether it was during my lunch time, when students were at arts and specials classes, or when my class was reading independently for a few minutes I would make the time, it is the only way I could keep myself functioning. Even in the midst of the oddities that is a school teachers schedules where we hear about the lack of bathroom breaks, the quick 10 minute lunches teachers take to make sure they have copies or a student who isn't feeling well gets to the nurse, which by the way are all very real realities of a teachers busy day and multiple hats, I found the time. So over the next few posts I am going to share how I found the time and what I did with that time because whether you are an educator, a business person, a mother or father, a wife, husband, life partners, brothers or sisters, or friends you can find this time in the midst of your crazy busy wonderfully beautiful sometimes awful yet amazing life schedule.
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