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Quick announcement: If you are a teacher who’s decided you’re ready for your next chapter, be sure to get on my waitlist for my course and community: **From Classroom Copywriter (Learn How to Book Your First Paid Writing Client—Even if You’re Still Teaching!) for all the details and first dibs on limited spots. Doors open in July!
Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I go outside, even before I have coffee (I know, it’s weird for me too). I sit on the deck. I close my eyes. I let the quiet and the dark and sounds of the world waking up wash over me. I started doing this last summer—a form of morning meditation I suppose. Sometimes, I get caught up in what things have to look like. Meditation for example was something I held in my head as being VERY SERIOUS. Sitting on the floor, candle lit, sage burning, trying to continuously draw yourself back to your breath and away from the hundreds of thought that zip around like dragon flies in the spring. And sometimes it looks like this. (I mean not for me, let’s be honest) But more often these days, I am trying ask myself: What do I want from this moment? Why am I doing it at all? Is there another way to arrive there? So last summer, I started going outside. First thing. While it’s still dark sometimes (hard to do in the summer actually). There is something about closing off my sense of sight and letting the others pick up the slack that feels almost…lavish. Strange idea, I’m aware. But have you tried it? Our eyes take in so much all day long. The information is non stop: reading text whether it’s on a screen or otherwise (I hope you still read books), visual information whether it’s watching a video or watching your children, or watching the cars go by. It’s a lot. When you shut that off, the feeling (for me anyway) was literally soothing. Like a bath for my nervous system. Krista Tippet writes a Substack and hosts a podcast called On Being. Right now, she is doing a series called “The Hope Portal.” It’s part inquiry, part poetry (this is my own humble opinion she isn’t actually writing poetry), and she has conversations with some incredible humans about the proximity of hope and despair in today’s world. In the first episode, she talks about hope as a choice. As a practice—the idea that we need to build it like a “moral muscle.” This resonates deeply with me as someone who was raised with a fair dose of hope injected into most situations. In the worst of situations, my dad always says: “your life can change tomorrow. You never know what’s around the corner.” I’m positive there were times growing up when this was annoying to me. When I would rather have wallowed in my “misfortune,” and been a victim of whichever teenage circumstance I had the misfortune of being in. But here’s the thing: over the years, this seed was planted firmly in my soul. It grew roots. It became my default. And not in the toxically positive sort of way we ask people to smile through terrible pain and adversity. But in a quiet certainty that things would shift. That whatever situation I was in the middle of was somehow supposed to be happening. Even if I couldn’t see it. It has never stopped the hurt. Or the tears or the grief when difficult situations arise. But it has always held me in such a way that I could see the idea that I would be OK. That things would change one way or another. The curiosity to wonder how things might be different is a huge part of that. To dare to see beyond the fires of life or cloud that won’t budge is a huge part of this. Tippet says: “Curiosity is the quiet moral muscle that makes all the other virtues possible.” And although I have never thought of it this way before now, I can now completely see that Curiosity and Hope are intertwined. They walk hand in hand. If you aren’t curious enough to imagine something could be different, hope feels like it’s too far off—a tiny ship on other horizon of vast ocean of difficulty. But you can let the teeniest spark of curiosity in, even just for a moment, that ship is all of a sudden much closer. Almost as if you could swim there. Curiosity is the first step in any big change. Daring to wonder if your life could look different, feel different, be different, is something many people won’t allow themselves to do. Change is scary after all. But what if it’s less scary than standing still? Less scary than the idea that you might stay right where you are for the foreseeable future? Part of what I help people do is build that curiosity muscle. Be brave enough to wonder, “what if it IS possible to feel differently?” 4, 3, 2, 1
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Uncategorized
💃 That too-small pants feeling
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I was on hold for the 3rd time in an hour. Every time I conceded to a “call-back,” instead of staying on hold, I somehow missed the call. It’s like I was living in a Call Back Black Hole.™ The hold music was a catchy mix of yacht rock and late nineties: under-age club-where-everyone-is wearing-black-pants-and-drinking-watered-down-rum-and-cokes. It was A VIBE. All of which is to say, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], I was obviously dancing. Has this ever been you? On hold so long you’re dancing to the music, but also wondering when the f$%k someone will remember you’re there? Spoiler alert: sometimes this is what it feels like to be “between worlds.” Not like “ghost of Christmas past” type of between worlds, but more like: “I know I’m done with this chapter, but I’m waiting to understand what the next is” type of way. I’ve been here more times than I can count, and I can tell you one thing: As much as it can suck (big time) not knowing what’s around the corner, I’ve grown to believe that actually, maybe:
It’s the whole point.(I said what I said) When you get into a groove of doing the same thing, in the same way, every same day…yes there is comfort. Consistency Reliability Order And this is great! For a time. It is how we build systems, and how we grow into whatever new skill we are learning. It’s is how we rest and integrate things into our lives. (I have learned the hard way how important this is.) And then, if we let it go on too long, it can become: Stagnant Too comfortable We climb to the top of our game. Sure the view is nice. For a few minutes. And then? What is there to learn? Who is there to learn from? If we aren’t learning and growing…What are we doing? I have the belief that we are here on earth for 2 reasons: to learn and to grow (and to love and give back).OK… 4 things.So if you ever start to have the slightly itchy feeling, that feeling that life is all of sudden feeling a little like a too-small pair of pants (you know the one wink) like you’ve been dancing to the hold music for a LITTLE TOO LONG, I suggest you take some to ask yourself if maybe it’s time hang up that phone. To think deeply about whether you are in same, same, same mode and need to shake it up a bit. And if you are teacher who is nodding along, maybe even ignoring that little ache, that little voice that KNOWS it’s time for something different, (and you want to try your hand at writing!) I’d love for you check out my debut course that will teach you how to go From Classroom to Copywriter. ps:
pps. hang up the phone! they’re not answering. The 4 x1
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What’s changing for you, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]?
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Happy Friday [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], Change is hard. My daughter finished Kindergarten last week. Every time life shifts gears, you are offered a portal. It’s easy to opt out This time, I decided to opt-in. She had been at the same school for 5 years. Our family had been a part of the community for almost 7. My husband and I both worked there. He also decided it was time to move on after this year. So, this community has known my little family as we were getting to know ourselves. They knew her before she was earth-side. They’ve watched her become who she is. They’ve played a huge role in the kind-hearted, generous, aware, curious human she’s growing into. The teachers she’s had over the course of 5 years there have been nothing short of amazing. They are thoughtful, generous with their time, energy, patience and love. They have held space for her to grow and learn, to stumble and recover. If I’m being honest, they have felt less like “teachers” and more like parenting partners. They have taught me so much about how to be the best version of myself for my girl. To be what she needs. And she will be moving on to another school next year…not because she has to. But because we felt clear that it was time for a new chapter. This can be the hardest thing to do. To trust your intuition. To make a decision not because it’s not good anymore. But because you believe with a slight tweak, that other doors might open. We aren’t given great examples of that. We aren’t taught how to trust our gut. But over the last 2 years, I have spent a lot of time intentionally remembering how. Remembering why it’s important. I have also let busy-ness shuttle me from place to place and moment to moment over the past few weeks. I have allowed myself to not think about how sad I feel to be moving on from the community that has held my baby while she grew into a kid. Held me while I grew into Motherhood. Until the morning of her “flying up ceremony.” I picked up a thank you card from one of my husband’s students, and there were the tears that had been waiting for just the right moment. I didn’t really have time for them. But I let them come. I sat down, lit a candle, and offered myself time to be in this portal. To feel what comes with change. To let it wash over me. Then I went to watch my baby girl “fly up,” up and out. In her speech (!) she said, “I’m going to a new school next year. I’m kind of scared, but I will be brave… because I know so many people love me.” I cried again, tears of gratitude. Tears of of hope. Tears of uncertainty. But if she can be brave, then so can I. I don’t know what the next stage will be like yet. But I can feel for the line where one thing is completing and another is beginning.Where a seed has been planted and although I can’t see the sprouts yet, I know the roots are diving deep, embedding themselves in the earth. And I can trust that it will be exactly what we need. Anyone else sitting in the portal of change right now? I especially think of teachers who have made the decision they are done, but don’t know how to take the next steps. You know the next version of you is waiting, but you can’t see or feel her yet. I invite you to pause and allow yourself to feel the lines. To plant the seed. To know the roots are moving into the earth, even if you can’t see the sprouts yet. These are the moments that end up defining your time. And if you are interested in guidance on becoming a paid content or copywriter for education companies, reply with the word “READY” and let’s chat. The 4 x1
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Open for BIG news!
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Hi [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], TL;DR: The WAITLIST for Classroom to Copywriter is OPEN!
We are so close to the end of the school year. For 17 years in my life that meant…sweet relief.
Slower mornings Drinking my coffee while it still hot Going for runs without having to rush back to be ready for work. But most of all it meant… QUIET.Something happened to me over the years and years of being a teaching… I become an introvert. I craved alone time. I needed the quiet to know what I thought or even just to feel for what was important in my life. This problem got much louder in my life once I become a mom. Now I was no longer returning to my empty apartment to decompress. I had a tiny human to take care of. At some point, I could no longer reconcile spending all day in noisy classrooms with this idea… that what I really wanted was to spend more time in a quiet space. Maybe you don’t relate to that part, or maybe you do. Maybe you just know somewhere deep inside that you are ready for change. Or maybe you’ve known for months or years but really haven’t been able to figure out the next step. Well. If that’s you, I wanted you to be the first to know that… The Waitlist for Classroom to Copywriter is officially OPEN!
This is my debut course/community for women who are ready to step out of the classroom and into content or copywriting in the Education/EdTech space. And I’m PSYCHED, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE].This project has been a teeny, tiny seedling for a long time and I CANNOT WAIT to bring incredible women together: To share their experiences To work side-by-side in order to step into the next version of themselves To be guided by someone that knows what it feels like to walk this path To learn some specific writing skills and gain the confidence to do something new but in a space that feels familiar. IS THIS YOU?
The 4 x1
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Is this you?
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Hey [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], I wanted to send a quick email and let you know how excited I am to be building a course and community specifically for female teachers who are ready for a change and know they might want to try content or copywriting. Is this you? If you think this sounds like something you might be interested in, just reply with the word, “interested.” That’s it! (And if you have questions, feel free to ask them too! I’m happy to answer anything you’ve got.) p.s. thanks for being here! |