After a wonderfully long and restful break, I am looking forward to returning to the busy, exciting, stimulating, challenging world of Opal School and the Portland Children's Museum. My head (and my heart) are filled with resolutions to find increasingly better ways to communicate the important things that are going on at Opal School with you and with an ever-widening audience, and to facilitate connections between the various members of our community.
For me, these resolutions lay tightly intertwined with many others I shared with my family today. They include things like, be sure to pay attention to each precious day, grow a better garden, get more exercise, eat better food... the usuals, I'm sure. I especially liked these that ended up on my children's lists: create at least 3 great art projects, make a you-tube channel with my own animations, get to Suzuki violin book 7, dream up some fabulous family adventures.
What a great exercise it is to zoom way out, consider what it is that you love, and imagine what it might look like if you were doing it. Maybe my greatest resolution of all is to try and remember that image when I'm so zoomed in on the little stuff that in the moment kicks up so much needless sweat. And remember that those little moments are really all we ever have. They are the steps on the path, so what a good idea it is to think for a while about where we expect that path to lead.
I was reminded of all this when I stumbled upon this post by Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, a book I happened to find under the Christmas tree this year. In this post, (click here) she offers 7 tips for keeping school-day mornings calm and cheerful. It seemed like a good read for all of us heading back to school next week. And good support for keeping those small moments connected to big hopes and dreams.
I look forward to seeing all of you! (Remember... school starts on Tuesday!)