My mind is turning once more toward the work I must do to prepare for a new school year. Some of it is minutiae, frenetic little pulses of 'copy this' or ' find that resource,' but the more interesting side of my planning cycle is the dreaming--those crazy new ideas I want to convince myself and others to tackle.
This year my list is shaping up like this:
1. Forcing my upper school choir to love sight-singing.
2. Helping the choir kids fall in love with Bach.
3. Pushing for an arts week theme that incorporates art and money somehow. Gotta make it catchy too.
4. Pulling out all the stops for the Lessons and Carols concert.
5. Heading out on a development ask with our new director.
6. Building a new display area in the VPAC lobby and raising the money to do it.
7. Preparing a tour concert for Spain.
8. Getting the piano program off to a good start financially, while welcoming our newest faculty member.
9. Convince myself to stop making so many lists.
10. Get back to regular yoga.
11. Get my materials search-ready.
12. Plan full faculty in-service and getting the Christmas party planned next week.
13. Helping out with the board retreat.
14. Remembering to breathe.
15. See number 14.
I'll add more as the year progresses. Hopefully I'll also prune a bit as I see the circumstances change.
So, that's the plan, but, as with all good plans, there could be changes at the drop of a hat. Illness, death, joyful meanderings... life in all its wondrous, crazy complexity, all of it can happen to you. When I look back at my list, the gradual paring begins and I remember that I didn't leave much room for love, and joy, and well-being. That's what concerns me most about school life and eventual headship--pulling myself out of myself and experiencing all the beauty around me.
As my life continues to unfold, I am reminded that joy, just like any other addiction, is habitual. To experience it fully, I must continually return to it. With that hope in mind, I amend my plan:
1. Find joy in every circumstance.
2. Be present in the midst of the joy around me and in me.
3. Breathe.
4. Repeat.
This year my list is shaping up like this:
1. Forcing my upper school choir to love sight-singing.
2. Helping the choir kids fall in love with Bach.
3. Pushing for an arts week theme that incorporates art and money somehow. Gotta make it catchy too.
4. Pulling out all the stops for the Lessons and Carols concert.
5. Heading out on a development ask with our new director.
6. Building a new display area in the VPAC lobby and raising the money to do it.
7. Preparing a tour concert for Spain.
8. Getting the piano program off to a good start financially, while welcoming our newest faculty member.
9. Convince myself to stop making so many lists.
10. Get back to regular yoga.
11. Get my materials search-ready.
12. Plan full faculty in-service and getting the Christmas party planned next week.
13. Helping out with the board retreat.
14. Remembering to breathe.
15. See number 14.
I'll add more as the year progresses. Hopefully I'll also prune a bit as I see the circumstances change.
So, that's the plan, but, as with all good plans, there could be changes at the drop of a hat. Illness, death, joyful meanderings... life in all its wondrous, crazy complexity, all of it can happen to you. When I look back at my list, the gradual paring begins and I remember that I didn't leave much room for love, and joy, and well-being. That's what concerns me most about school life and eventual headship--pulling myself out of myself and experiencing all the beauty around me.
As my life continues to unfold, I am reminded that joy, just like any other addiction, is habitual. To experience it fully, I must continually return to it. With that hope in mind, I amend my plan:
1. Find joy in every circumstance.
2. Be present in the midst of the joy around me and in me.
3. Breathe.
4. Repeat.
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