Time is a Thief

 And then I blinked and it was 9 years later.  So many times I wanted to post an update, but felt I had to catch up and do it chronologically. And I have mostly only had job-art to post about (i.e. student projects).  Oh perfectionism. Suffice it to say that I was busy being a multi-arts teacher (dance/theater/art) then a visual art teacher, single-parenting a complex human through adolescence, moving, moving again, and again, making video tutorials for students, doing leadership work, teaching other teachers to make video tutorials for students and teach online during a pandemic (and they taught me), surviving a pandemic (oh hello chaos, I know you, we got this), learning to teach 450 kids via computer, teaching 450 kids with masks on our faces, loading thousands of kid clay projects in and out of a kiln for firing, compiling hundreds of kid stop motion projects, managing 8 art classes a day while still trying to connect with each beautiful student artist, photographing their art and hanging it in our hallways, spending time in France, meeting my Ojibwe relatives on our native land, learning to line dance and two step and waltz, rollerskating, kayaking, skiing.  And trying to figure out how to do all these things I love to do and not be so flipping busy. 

During the pandemic I discovered that I'm not as introverted as I once thought, and during lock-down, I actually took a job at an Amazon grocery delivery warehouse, stocking the shelves and doing shopping for people.  I'm kind of a border collie and I'll go crazy if I can't be helpful, but also I was craving humanity so much I was willing to do anything that allowed me to responsibly (essential worker) be around humans.  I honestly would have done it without pay.

And now, I'm discovering that I really am an introvert who can't live without solid chunks of unstimulating alone time, but also small bits of joyful socializing.

Talking with an art teacher friend about giving too much to our jobs, and deciding maybe it's enough to just be good and not always great.  Then listening to a podcast suggesting moms block off time in their calendars with these words: "My needs matter.  Do not cancel." And it occurred to me how much teaching is parenting/caregiving and that this also applies very much to us (also, I see you nurses). And so, I got a sub for a day and took off for 2 nights in Portland, Oregon, to rest and make art. 

There.  All caught up.