Category Archives: Balance

Carving out time for yourself + movement = creative thought?

Posted on by

I’ve been inspired by the recent blog posts of my colleagues (Ashley, Jen, and Steph) which have focused on finding and establishing a healthy balance in our busy lives. I too have found myself a bit over committed recently, and often struggle to carve out time for myself on a daily basis. A once avid daydreamer, I crave having time to myself…time to think…time for creative thought.



But where is that time now? When I think about where/when my best ideas happen it is either in the car, the shower, or while rocking my kids to sleep. In other words: times when I don’t have a screen to distract me and I’m by myself. Hmmm…



A few times a week, I hop on the treadmill super early in the morning before the day gets going. This typically involves me dragging myself out of bed, sneaking downstairs without waking anyone up, grabbing my iPad to turn on Netflix, and starting my routine. When I started my workout yesterday, I thought “what would this be like if I didn’t watch something while I did it?” So, I gave it a try.



What did I find? First- as any new mom will tell you- time to be with yourself is a huge gift. It was rejuvenating to let my thoughts and ideas bounce around with no real agenda. As I walked, I started daydreaming. Some of my daydreams were work related, others not, but I found a sense of freedom in this experience. Gradually I felt that some of my daydreams became ideas so good that I didn’t want to “lose them” so I grabbed my phone, did some “speech to text” emails to myself, and kept on daydreaming. When the workout ended I felt centered, creative, and excited to start the day.



This experiment got me thinking more deeply about the correlation between physical movement and creative thought, something I’m now more curious about. Does carving out time for yourself + movement = creative thought? For me, I think so!

Anyone want to Jblog?

Posted on by

I’ve been struggling lately with this idea of blogging.  If there was a #mood for blogs this is how I feel: 

Creative thinking has always come naturally while I’m running.  It’s so easy for me to tune out for a few minutes (okay hours) and just think, dream, discuss with those I’m running with.  It might be biased but some of my best ideas and greatest conversations have come during this time.  
The problem is…. I haven’t had much time to “jog” lately, let alone go for a walk, or even sit in the sun.  Living a balanced life has been VERY difficult for me this year and I’m finding that I can’t balance all of life’s demands.  
So, I ask: “Why blog when you can jog?” 

Join me for a Jblog: September 27th, at 2:45 pm (start time is flexible) 🙂 
Walking, Jogging or Running is welcome!
Meet at the chapel lawn…we might have a pit stop. 

Homework: Finding the Balance

Posted on by

Recently, I have been thinking about the amount of time our students spend on homework and whether their learning increases because of this extra work. This reflection has led me to make changes in how I approach my lessons and forced me to question the value of so much “outside work” for students. 


 As a parent of three high schoolers, I see the difference in stress on students based on their workload. One of my children is taking two AP courses, 1 honors and enrolled in an advanced math course. He wants to be well-rounded and is passionate about the arts and sports. What his workload has done has made him prioritize and focus on what he is most passionate about. Yet, it keeps him up for hours-on-end, multiple days in a row, with no time other than to just “do school”. The fact he has stayed up well passed 4:00 am on multiple occasions completing homework and has already been sick twice within the first 4 weeks of school is an indication that this is not healthy. This begs the question of what is the purpose of homework and is it getting the outcomes we really want? 


 At the end of the day, We want our students to graduate high school with the skills and tools to thrive in the outside world. We want them to be able to prioritize, set-goals, to be wisdom seekers and actively pursue their passions. How can this possibly happen when they are over scheduled, overworked and stressed out most of their days? What skills are we really teaching them by allowing this to happen? 


 I think as educators, we need to push the pause button and rewind to see how we can make a change. More reading, more note taking, more question answering is sometimes simply MORE. If we want them to have a balanced life beyond school, we should support those choices that allow them to explore their passions, dream, play and thrive. How can we get the same outcomes with less outside work? In what ways can we simplify and help them thrive? When we finally figure that out we too, can rest well.