Revisiting Silence

Sitting in the Silence, again! It seems that spring is on its way. The sun is high in the sky as the afternoon winds down. It is hard to imagine that spring is really just around the corner today, as I see the snow piled around the house, but it is melting, and I do believe spring will really arrive. The winter has been harsh, and the cold has worn me to the bone. At first I loved the snow, especially when the storms had passed and our power stayed on. I had fun skiing in the freshly fallen snow, making a blazing fire, and walking in the woods with the dogs using snowshoes! I reveled in the beauty of the snow and silence.

With winter almost past, and the excitement of the holidays stored in my memory, I am trying to savor winter. But spring is just around the bend and work calls me to learn new things, stretching the boundaries of what I know. I was buried deep this winter. Unsure of my fate, I wondered if I could recover from the blizzard of a job with new and different skill requirements? If spring would ever arrive? I hunkered down to face the storm. Stretched to my limits, afraid I would crack like the plastic shovel I used in the driveway layered with ice, I pushed on. My skills seemed to match the cheap material of one of the shovels I tried to use to remove ice from my path, only to have it crack and break under the stress of the sub-zero temperatures. Is this how our children feel? I wonder a lot about how new education initiatives, standardized test, and performance based teacher evaluations weigh on our children?

For now, it seems that despite my sub-par technology skills, I have survived the winter – still learning, leaning on my colleagues. It almost feel like spring will come. I have great support! Who provides this support to our students, our families, and our communities? Today, I am networking with new people, and trying to keep my center. Working on ideas that I think can help kids, stuck in storms that hinder learning and success. Even now, as I gain support from capable people, I find that the stress of life pushes me past my center. Sometimes this takes me to a place that makes me a person I don’t want to be. Is this what happens to frustrated kids? I guess this can happen from any desk, in any office, in any school, from any position. What are the kids saying?

Spring is just around the corner now and I am blessed with wonderful possibilities for BSN and The School at Kirkridge. Seeking silence is more important than ever. In the hurried world where information bombards us from every direction, I am thankful for finding my way to silence, asking questions that matter in this space. Silence is not a luxury in my life, but a necessity. I beckon you to try to stop, even if it just for a few minutes – and sit in silence, hear your self. You might be surprised! You might just stand up and try to change the world.