So after putting in the months of work it has taken to put this website together, I took a break over the Christmas/New Year period to rest and reflect. Reading and listening for fun only. Leisurely walks for fun only.
As January rolled in I started to look at my task list for Pure Spaces. Given everything that continues to go on in the world, the amount of grieving loss I see on a daily basis, I was overwhelmed with second thoughts about all this.
How do I begin to spread the kind of message I have in mind here when faced with so much hopelessness? How do I say here’s a Wellbeing Toolbox that I myself am struggling to make use of right now?
Usually when faced with such dilemmas, something will pop up on my radar to read or listen to, to contemplate or consider, that holds an answer. In this case it came in the form of an episode of Brené Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us. I won’t go into all of it here other than to suggest it is certainly worth a listen.
This particular episode is titled “The Queen’s Gambit, Revisisting FFTs and Resting our Tired Brains.” After listening I realised my reaction of hesitancy, of doubt, of hopelessness was a tired brain and a weary heart. All of us experiencing the uncertainty and instability and disruption 2020 brought could not help but be weary, I think.
Inspiration to reinvigorate the tired brain and weary heart came in the form of a quote Brené shared from Sonya Renee Taylor. She says…
“We will not go back to normal, normal never was. Our pre-Corona existence was not normal, other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate, and lack. We should not long to return, my friends, we are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment, one that fits all of humanity and nature.”
Wow! The line “we are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment, one that fits all of humanity and nature.” really struck a chord with me. Could I be presumptuous enough to hope that what I am trying to put out in the world with Pure Spaces Education is part of stitching this new garment?
So here I am with my second thoughts. Brené suggests we “normalise discomfort” and “use awkwardness and discombobulation as teachers”. Well, hope floats once again. Welcome 2021….. here we go!