LIKE THE GRAND CANYON // Weeks 34 & 35

This week, a coworker got a promotion. I congratulated her and said something about how her new position came with peaks and valleys and her response made me laugh out loud: yes, like the Grand Canyon. It encapsulated her feelings about the transition, and it resonated deeply with me because I am dealing with my own.

I've been radio silent for the last two weeks because of one thing and one thing only: it's back to school season. I had a week of teacher workdays, meetings, open house, and the first week of classes. I'm going in early and staying late, trying to improve the content I've been teaching for the last several years and developing curriculum for a class I've never taught before. And there's this other THING that I can't talk about yet but that has thrown a monkey wrench into all of it. I'm tired just looking at the stack of things I need to tackle this weekend. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting a cold. I don't say this to elicit pity, but simply to acknowledge the facts: transitions are hard. Change is scary. And there's only so much you can take before your body says NOPE.

In the face of this, I'm making an effort to find things (besides sleep) that help keep me sane. For the last few weeks, those things have included:

1. Spotify's Songs to Sing in the Shower playlist, which has everything from Bon Jovi to the Backstreet Boys and brings me inexplicable joy.

2. Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. It renewed my love for the musical I still haven't seen but couldn't stop listening to when the cast recording was released. It gave me a new understanding and appreciation for the incredible amount of determination, talent, and moving parts it took to make the show happen. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Mariska Hargitay which was lovely, but when it came to the annotations of the lyrics narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda at the end, it was difficult to follow without being able to see what he was talking about.

3. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson. This was the first time I had read anything of hers and it makes me want to read more. She speaks openly about the role mental illness plays in her life through increasingly hilarious and bizarre stories, arguments, encounters, and adventures that she experiences on her quest to be furiously happy. I recommend the audiobook narrated by the author because these are stories you really have to hear from the source.

4. I mentioned earlier this summer that I was really enjoying Midnight, Texas, a show based on a Charlaine Harris series I haven't read, and I'm still enjoying that. It was the one show I made time to watch after work this week before evaporating and leaving only a pile of clothes on the floor.

5. I've started listening to the audiobook of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates and while it feels very personal and powerful to listen to a letter from a father to his son in his own voice, I already feel like I need a physical copy so I can really slow down, Google all of the references, and take it all in.

So tell me, what have you been up to this week? And what are some things that help you stay sane?