Beginnings...

So I've been focused very much on endings for the past few weeks, with good reason. I've been a bit depressed/down in the dumps and allowed myself to get lost in the doldrums. But hey, summer is here! I'm alive! To quote Sixx A.M. "Life is beautiful"! I've got a renewed sense of self-- I've been working on cleaning up my spaces from getting my laundry done to sorting through papers- dumping the not essential pieces of my life. Do I really need 65 copies of worksheet packets? I think not, my friends! Do I really need all those stupid window envelopes that the bills came in? Nope! So I spent the past week/weekend sorting through a lot of stuff at home and in my classroom. There's still a long way to go, but I feel better about where I've gotten to so far.

It's really not easy sorting through your life and deciding what to keep and what to toss. My brother Jimmy would say "Toss it all," but I can't do that. I'm an English teacher. We hold on to everything because we never know "when we might need it." Might. Why do I get hung up on that? Do I need it now? No. Do I need it tomorrow? No. Do I need it next week? Nope. So, out it goes! I guess what I need to get a handle on is that I can re-create most of the stuff I've done in the past four years. Besides, I always re-do everything anyway. My teaching is like my mom's cooking: never the same way twice.

So, this is a time for renewal- a time for focusing on me: what do I want? What do I need? How can I make myself a better, stronger, more confident person?