Motivational Monday: Routine

                                                                                                                       

I am starting to feel the darkness.  I haven’t felt that heaviness creeping around in the corners of my mind like this in quite some time.  I see the shadows in my peripheral vision, and I start to get nervous because I do not want to loose my grip and end up on the couch for the rest of the winter season.

I could blame it on the weather. It has been freezing with bitter wind chill factors, and so. much. snow.  Last month, I felt that I was one snow day away from transforming into Jack from The Shining.

I could blame it on work. Some unexpected things required immediate attention, forcing me to put some things on the back burner.

I could blame it on the lack of sleep since there has been a protest in sleeping through the night with both kids.

I am going to say it was a combo of all of these things that have deprived me of routine.

I thrive on routine. I feel focused with routine. Without it, I wander around wondering when the grocery shopping and laundry will get done (it won't) or when I will feel inspired to write (I don't).

This lack of routine has me at a loss for words. I feel that I have so much to say and write, but it gets lost while I flounder between home and work responsibilities.

Since writing is essential to my sanity, I decided to take matters into my own hands. 

This week I am going to a local writing group and I decided to take this online writing class with Jenna at the Word Cellar.

I am hoping to find my words underneath all of this muckiness.

In the meantime, I am trying to pay extra close attention to the small details. Observing the beauty of everyday moments helps me stay connected, keeping me from letting my mind wander into the darkness.

At the ear doctor.  I love his hat, cape, and mittens.  

How do you rediscover your passion? How do you keep your sanity during these harsh winter months?

Motivational Monday: Hello, February!

January, I'm kind of glad you are over.

We haven't seen this kind if snow here since 1978. Mention inches.  At first, I was good with it. The fresh white blankets of snow made everything pretty, even on gloomy, cloudy days.  We were able to go sledding. There is nothing quite like flying down a hill with the wind in your face. It brought back all kinds of cozy childhood memories, especially when we took the kids down the same sledding hills my parents took me when I was a kid.

But then the cold came. Cold as in 35 degrees BELOW 0 with the wind chill.  For days.  

School was cancelled. The days off were fun in the beginning. We didn't have to go back to school after our Christmas break so it felt like an extended vacation.  We were cozy in our jammies with nowhere to go and unlimited screen time on all devices.

But as the month drudged on, the inclement weather days kept coming.  During the whole month of January, we only had one full week of school. 

The cozy feeling began to feel stifling. I lost track of the days. The less I did, the less I wanted to do. So I tried to find the silver lining.

I baked cookies.  There were many benefits of this: the oven kept the house warmer.  The cookies were delicious. (Obviously).  The kids were into baking (for the first couple of batches), but began to loose interest.  But that didn't stop me.  I baked and baked and baked.  

I needed to feel a sense of accomplishment since everything else was falling apart with no schedule, no motivation. When those warm, delicious cookies came out of the oven and melted chocolate oozed out with the first bite, I felt like a winner.

However, I started to notice that I was developing an extra layer of insulation.  It kind of snuck up on me.  I mean, it's not like my clothes felt tight since I was only wearing jammies with elastic waistbands. I like to that think by adding this extra layer of insulation by the means of baking comforting treats, I was honoring my biology, a need to stay warm before we had things modern luxuries, like furnaces.

But we do have furnaces.  For quite some time.

So February, I need to get it together.  Enough of drifting through each day in your bathrobe, eating cookies. Enough of the unlimited screen time which is defiantly warping your children's sense of reality. 

I can't live like this anymore. Nothing is getting done.

Today I am going to go to the gym and run. I think being cooped up without the release of a good workout has made me crabby. My mind feels fuzzy.  

I created some charts to help the kids stay focused on things other than screen time.

This reminds me of a lesson I already learned with summer: I do better with a schedule and a routine.  I do better when we have places to go or things to so. And when I say I really mean we.  Not that I don’t love cuddling on the couch with my babies, but I really am a better mom when we are doing stuff.

Did you have a lot of snow in January?  How did you cope?  How are you feeling about February?

Motivational Monday: Thoughts on Teaching

Teaching and mothering are very similar.  Teachers and moms pour themselves into their jobs, giving their energy and passion without reservation.  We want to see our students and children become empowered people.  We want them to find their spark, the thing that lights them up inside.

A lot of stress and frustration accompanies these two callings.  Often times, it is challenging to stay motivated and keep on giving since I don’t often see how my efforts are benefiting my students and children.  Teachers do not usually see the backend of their efforts, and mothers usually wait a lifetime in order to see how the end result of their labor.

Sometimes all I need is a little glimmer of hope that I am on the right track and stay motivated.

This weekend I saw that glimmer.

A student of mine was chosen to be the student speaker at graduation.  MiVida was an incredible student, and I loved watching her flourish as she relaunched her blog, Faith with Heels.  Her positive energy was contagious!  In her speech, she acknowledged how I reignited her love for social media.  I was totally touched by her mention of me.  As much as she claims I gave to her, she has given back to me, which in turn, I will give out again.

Watch out, world!  MiVida is going to do great things!

Moments like this are magical, and I think that is the hook that keeps me coming back to teaching.

Are you a teacher?  Or a parent?  What keeps you motivated? 

Motivational Monday: Writer’s Block

Yesterday I had writer’s block.  I can’t even remember the last time I struggled with getting my thoughts out on the page.  It seemed the more I wrote, the more frustrated I became since my words and feelings didn’t match with my thoughts in my head.

So I did what anyone would do – I asked Facebook what to do.  And then I went to Pinterest to find inspirational quotes.

That is when I realized fear were getting in my way.  

Fear and self-doubt were stifling my story I wanted to get out.

See, I am trying to write a piece for the Listen to Your Mother audition. I know that there are a few people that read this blog.  I have spoken in front of students, presented at a conference, and been on a panel on TV several times; but reading a personal story out loud makes me nervous.  Wonder if it is no good?  Wonder if I can't say what is in my heart?  Wonder if I fail?

But then I remembered this:

So I am not going to wait for it to come out perfectly

I am going to just breath and work through this.

Have you ever had writer's block?  How do you work through your fear?