Building Anew

Wisdom from the Field #15

Novelist Matt Haig organized previous “notes to his future self” in his journal to craft the memoir The Comfort Book.

Haig suffered from anxiety and depression, even contemplated suicide. One way he made it through his suffering was through complete self-acceptance: for his situation as well for who he was. This realization led to giving himself permission to just be, without an agenda or expectations and simply do what felt right (to “take comfort”¹).

Another lesson he learned from his ordeal is that, through suffering, people can discover who they really are and who they might become.

As Haig notes:

“The best thing about rock bottom is the rock part. You discover the solid bit of you. The bit that can't be broken down further. The thing that you might sentimentally call a soul. At our lowest we find the solid ground of our foundation. And we can build ourselves anew.”

The Hardest Year

I help lead a network of area school leaders. What we share with each other verifies what is being observed nationally: this is the hardest school year many of us have experienced. Anyone working in education right now is feeling this stress.

Somewhat like fish not aware they are swimming in water, I think people forget that we still going through one of the biggest catastrophes the world has ever experienced. And yet expectations for teaching and learning have not been reduced. Education is called to meet this challenge without the proper resources and support.

While I agree that this situation is not sustainable², I am curious as to the people we will become (and are currently becoming) once we make it through this situation. As Haig notes, an outcome of a challenge is “you discover the solid bit of you.”

Thinking about this wisdom, consider the following questions as you interact with your colleagues, faculty, staff, and yourself.

1. What comforts are you providing for yourself as we manage this challenge?

2. How are you affirming our current reality, for your colleagues and for yourself?

3. What obstacles are you removing? What supports are you providing?

4. Considering our challenges, how will you adjust your shared vision to create space for whom we now might become?³

1. While reading The Comfort Book, I kept thinking about Mary Oliver’s poem, “Wild Geese”. I glued this poem inside a pocket notebook for all my teachers before our 2021 summer break.

2

Matt Renwick @ReadByExample

Collective Efficacy or Toxic Positivity? ascd.org/el/articles/co… via @ASCD For educators, the maxim "We can do hard things" needs to be modified to "We can do sustainable things."

ascd.orgCollective Efficacy or Toxic Positivity? - ASCDLeaving my teaching position in August of 2020 was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. After playing a critical role in the formation of my school’s distance learning plan the prior spring, I was appointed to a committee comprising administrators, various other school staff, and teachers fr

3. I share more about “identity work” in my upcoming book with Corwin (February 2022).