As the leaves unfurl and new flowers pop out every day, we’re reminded that it’s a season of change. As fellow New Englanders who have longed for spring, we know how to welcome that change, even if it leaves our sinuses a little itchy.
Some say it strikes like lightning: that spark that sets the mind on fire and ignites the spirit. We grasp it in an instant and recognize it despite its ever changing form, in the capture of a scream on canvas, our country’s origin story told in rap, or the wordless story expressed in an animated short film. It has directed humanity’s course, both in ancient times and present day. With it, our ancestors made sense of the stars; our contemporaries plan a pathway to Mars.
In my monthly message to upper school students, I shared reflections in honor of Martin Luther King Day. I challenge my students, and you, to reflect on the question: How are you preparing yourself for a life of impact?
It’s January in New England. Cold has locked in. Trees are bare. ‘Rona spawns her offspring to keep us a little on edge and sticking Q-tips in our noses. And a full, rich and challenging semester of learning has come to a close. As you wait this week for your first semester grades and comments,
I want you to lift your vision higher.
I want to remind you that how you spend your time now prepares you for something larger
-- for a life of impact.
When I was a young teacher – years before I had children – a wise head of school pulled the faculty together before parent-teacher conferences and shared this quote from Elizabeth Stone.
“Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ”
"Remember," he said, "when you talk about someone else’s child with them, you are talking about their heart."
Parenting is such sublime, scary, soulful work – and we can use all the help we can get. Here are four recent articles that might provide a slice of support:
How many times have you used the word stress this week? If it is more than once, you are not alone. In a study of 43,000 students from high-performing schools, 75% of high school students and 50% of middle schoolers reported feeling "often or always" stressed by schoolwork.
Though there is no way to eradicate all stress from our lives, we can still find small ways to strengthen our resilience. As Dr. Susan David, the author of Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life, writes, "Discomfort is the price we pay for a meaningful life." In her fifth and final Habits of Mind workshop -- "Making the Best of Stress: Building Your Resilience Toolbox" -- LifeCompass Institute Associate Director Deborah Farmer Kris shared five tools for managing stress.
When was the last time you had a full eight hours of sleep? I hope that you would say last night, but the world we live in now treats sleep as something that can be easily sacrificed. Sometimes, as I walk down the halls, I hear people comparing how much sleep they got and almost praising the person with the least amount of sleep. I have heard stories of people who pulled all-nighters to finish a project. How is this our normal? Instead of sacrificing sleep, we should be prioritizing it.
For five Wednesdays in January and February, Deborah Farmer Kris will be offering a workshop series to upper school students on Building Habits of Mind. Neha Sunkara, class of 2021, shares this summary of workshop #3
It is free yet priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you lose it, you can never have it back. What is it? It is time.
For five Wednesdays in January and February, Deborah Farmer Kris will be offering a workshop series to upper school students on Building Habits of Mind. Neha Sunkara, class of 2021, shares this summary of workshop #2.
For five Wednesdays in January and February, Deborah Farmer Kris will be offering a workshop series to upper school students on Building Habits of Mind. Neha Sunkara, class of 2021, shares this summary of workshop #1.
