Thursday, August 31, 2023

As kids, we would play hide-and-seek in our neighborhood. We would find the most obscure hiding places. Sometimes, if you were lucky or really great at hiding, no one would find you. There was great pride in not being found. Your besties would cry out, “Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free!” I’m not certain where the phrase originated, but its meaning was clear. It’s time to come out of hiding.

Reason for the story and hike down memory lane, I’ve been hiding in plain sight. Yup. It’s completely possible. Last night, my daughter called me out of hiding. It’s all too easy to hide behind school, work and family responsibilities and disregard self care. Guilty as charged. I have been working from the moment I wake until I fall asleep. In between setting up my classroom; reuniting with colleagues and my teaching besties; meetings & professional development, I barely managed to squeeze some time at the beach. My tan is or rather was fabulous. My healthy glow is beginning to fade and is slowly being replaced with anxiety. Anxiety in the form of not sleeping, nightmares, and a twitch below my left eye. Not a sustainable lifestyle. It’s time for a reset, reboot, and rethink. Reset priorities, reboot my inner peace, and rethink how I spend my life (not time) outside of the classroom.

Back to blogging and enjoying conversations over coffee.

Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free!

—-Jenn