Decompressing

That pretty much sums up my state right now. I'm decompressing. It's something I have to do before I can move on to the next thing, whatever that might be. Summer is rapidly approaching (although you'd never know it by the weather for the past four days- lows in the 40's and highs in the 70's! In south Georgia! In the middle of May!), but before I can fully enjoy it, I have to process this school year.

I will admit it- this was not my personal best year teaching. It was challenging, and I learned a lot (about myself, about balance, about how to be a better teacher, what mistakes I don't want to make again) but it was flat-out draining. So I have to let it go so I can have a good summer and recharge my batteries for next year. I do a lot of deep breathing and meditation. It's one of the many coping mechanisms I've learned over the years in dealing with my anxieties. It's a way to "let go", which I think is pretty vital in for a healthy mental state.

We have all of these blow-up Letter People that we use in my classroom. There are 26 of the suckers, and the air has to be let out of all of them so they can be packed away for the summer, or else the pressure of the air will cause the seems to burst. It's really hard, as you have to simultaneously squeeze the air valve while pushing on the Letter Person to squeeze out all of the air. But that's what it's like for me when I have to decompress. It's hard work, but if I don't do it I know I'll burst.

Here's to not bursting for the next 2 1/2 months.