(I posted this to my social media, but was having technical difficulties and couldn’t post here at the time. Then, life got crazy and I forget. It still holds true today and fills my heart. Enjoy!)
This photo is me at one of my favourite places in the whole wide world. Nature and waterfalls are good for my mental health.
This Bell Let’s Talk day I’m going to be a little selfish.
In my day-job I am an educational assistant. I work with kids of all ages and abilities but I know myself and my colleagues are doing our best to take care of our students and their mental health needs. But what I’m noticing this week and this month is how many of us educators are struggling right now with our own. Sunday night my friend/coworker and I were texting each other, being unkind to ourselves, admitting our faults, and then trying to boost the others morale with positivity and affirmations and laughter.
They say you can’t pour from and empty cup, and yet we all find ourselves doing that every day, giving everything we have left to our students and to each other.
I’m so proud of the people I work with. I’m proud of their flexibility and ability to adapt at the drop of a hat. I’m proud of their ability to find humour in the little things. I’m proud to be a part of a team that does everything they can to keep things running smooth for our students when half of our staff are out sick. I’m proud of the fact that they can go home from spending all day with other people’s children and still be the safe place for their own. I’m proud of the teachers and educational assistants and administrators and secretaries and counsellors and librarians who have so much on their personal plate, but still have a smile on their face at the start of each new day.
So my selfish ask today is: if you can, PLEASE reach out to an educator and let them know what they mean to you. Let them know they are appreciated. Let them know they are validated. Let them know what an amazing job they are doing in the face of absolutely every adversity out there. And buy them a damn coffee. They’ve earned it.
