Keep the Important the Focus

This morning sipping my coffee and checking out my news feeds I came across the following article on Ruby Bridges, The six year old who defied a mob.  Reading this article and imagining what this little girl and her family had to endure just to attend school was a powerful reminder about why we do what we do as educators and how we need to keep our focus on the important and not get overwhelmed with the urgent.  Education can be a complex, messy, complicated endeavor, that often feels overwhelming as we are confronted with standardized tests scores, government curriculum redesigns, students and families with complex social, emotional and learning profiles.  Tack on a general feeling of negativity towards public education that sees teachers as highly paid baby sitters and it is easy to lose one's passion and purpose.

I have rewritten my thoughts on this article several times and deleted them as I truly have too much to say around it but for me it really instilled a renewed sense of defiance about what I value in education and why I became a teacher.  

This is the sort of article I would have printed out and used the basis of a lesson in my social studies class and really challenged my students to explore what it speaks to them about regarding society, education, our past, where we are at today and where we want to be in the future.  In that spirit I will just leave it here and allow you to read the article if you so choose and decided for yourself what it means to you.

The Wellness Teeter Totter

As we navigate these strange covid days there is more attention than ever being placed on mental health and the strain that working and living  through a pandemic is  placing on people.  As a result wellness is a daily topic of conversation in our schools, workplaces, the newsfeeds and social circles.  These conversations take many forms but are often centered around work-life balance and addressing individual's social, emotional and physical health. Personally these conversation hit home for me as personal and professional wellness has been at the centre of my decision-making since my university/railroad days when things weren't all that well or balanced.  What I have come to know over the years is that there is no "silver bullet" program or practice that ensures wellness.  The reality is wellness is like teeter totter with a wide variety of stressors that may unbalance us and require specific interventions and/or practices to bring the teeter totter back into balance.  

I would say in my late 20's I needed much more social and emotional support as a single guy navigating his way into adulthood and a career and at times felt could feel isolated and alone.  After graduating from University my decision to leave the railway and move back to Prince George and start my teaching career was the reset moment that I needed even though it meant walking away from a 6 figure job and moving into a basement suite with some buddies that was affectionately known as the "crack house" (because of the condition of the property, not because we were doing crack). Even though financially it looked like a bad move, surrounding myself with like-minded friends and moving away from social settings that had become negative influences on my life, was precisely the wellness decision I had to make.

Once I was married and had children my family provided the social and emotional stability and it was work-life balance support I needed as my wife and I both were professionals working full-time, going to school for our master's degrees, parenting two young boys and coaching.  Time management, efficiency and routines became very important for our family to ensure that our time together was high in quality to make up for the lack of quantity at times.  Balance was about placing importance on evening tobogganing, weekends at the cabin, days playing in the gym and holidays with family.   

As my boys moved into their teenage years life was extremely busy so ensuring we could quiet the "noise" and get respite from hectic schedules became paramount.  Summers, spring breaks and Christmas holidays become more important than ever as our weekends and evening were filled with activities.  As a result balance had to be viewed with a longer lens as the teeter totter rocked back and forth depending on the time of year and the season but never sat in equilibrium.  Looking back at those years would I say they were challenging, tiring, frustrating at times?  Absolutely, however, they were also some of the best and most rewarding times of my life.  

Of course my emphasis on wellness is always around my wife and boys, however, since I am not independently wealthy there can be no balance without work.  In fact, it is quite interesting to me how "work-life balance" has come to mean that any time a person is stressed, busy or feeling unhappy it must be the work part that needs to curtailed.  Now don't get me wrong, I like not working. I would say one of my great skills is not working.  However, I also believe that work can give you purpose and satisfaction and that sometimes it is a grind.  This doesn't mean one suffers through a job they hate but it does mean making informed choices around what you want out of your job or career and realizing that it is called work for a reason.  I haven't always know what I want to do, but I have been lucky in that I am pretty aware of what I don't want to do.  When I first got into school administration I found that I didn't like the discipline aspect and how my connection and relationships with students changed, so I quit and went back to the classroom, which turned out to be the best decision I could have made as it allowed me the opportunity to build a school based soccer program as well as be the lead teacher in the Canadian Sport School of Northern BC.  At the same time I was also reinvigorated by the social studies classroom experience and I through myself into curriculum development with a group of friends and colleagues founding the Pacific Slope Consortium that lead to course design, professional development and textbook writing.  And now after 17 years and in a different point in my life with many different experiences I find myself back in school administration in a position better suited to my love of curriculum development.  

Now as I head into my 50s and my kids are done high school and life is slowing down a little, personal health and fitness is more important than ever in keeping balance.  This became very clear a few years ago when I began experiencing a slight tingling in my arm and hand (read more here). Of course when I first felt some discomfort dealt with it like I had always done.  Ignore it, outwork it, endure it and this slight annoyance will go away.  Well much to my surprise that tingling was due to a disc in my neck that apparently had  been acting up for years (and mostly ignored by me) and within weeks I had gone from working out 5 days a week, playing soccer and ball hockey and training for a marathon to  laying in my bed a night hoping that fatigue would overtake me so I could just get a few minutes of sleep.  It was at this time that I realized that everything I planned for or imagined in my future relied on me being physically active.  Vacations, hobbies, social circles, leisure time, even work all relied on me being fit and active.  The thought that I may not be able to do simple things anymore like going for a walk, riding a bike or playing tennis was sobering to say the least.  Luckily, cervical discs are apparently a little like a faulty part on a car and once I finally got to the right doctor who could remove the disc and install some hardware the pain disappeared I was ready for road trips again.  Of course, my doctor was quick to point out that my other discs were also not in great shape and that if I kept treating my body like I was 18 he would be seeing me again very soon.  As a result, I now focus on avoiding the boom and bust cycle of the weekend warrior and make sure I am getting consistent daily activity that focuses on injury prevention as well as just fitness and fun.  

So as we are now coming to the end of 2020 and moving deep into the COVID second wave, wellness and balance are more important than ever to individuals and society as a whole.  It is tough to see so many people struggle with no real answers or solutions.  It is heartbreaking to see fear and worry turn to despair and depression with  negativity eating away at people.   For me the path forward  at this time is to prioritize family, health and work, in that order.  If those three things are taken care of on a daily basis then I am winning, the rest is out of my control.  I am thankful every day for what I have and never for once take it for granted and at the same time I know like my neck injury it can be lost so quickly that I will embrace what the day brings and try to keep the teeter totter from bucking me off.  This is what wellness is to me!

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

 Sometimes what goes around comes around and 17 years after my first go I find myself back in the school administration game being in charge my district's Distance Education school.  Not sure what it says about me that I gave up possibly the best job in BC teaching senior social studies and the Northern BC Sports School to take on distance education in the middle of a pandemic but never the less here I am.  

In all honestly it has been a positive experience as it does feel like our students need alternatives at this time and to be right in the thick of it gives one a feeling of purpose.  Not to mention you definitely don't need to look for things to do during the day.    

  

Well This Blows!

So I was watching a movie the other day and there was this family.  They get on a plane heading off on vacation.  Friends will be joining them in a few days and they are looking forward to some sun, sand and relaxation.  Flights are smooth, connections on time and they land in their destination  24 hours later on March 13 3:30pm to the pleasant smell of warm salt air and the news that the world has just changed dramatically.  All north american sports leagues have shut down, international sporting events canceled, youth sports practices suspended, schools closing, the Prime Minister calling citizens abroad to return home.  Wait, that wasn't a movie that was the beginning of our spring break!  Seriously, WTF!

I guess we all should have seen it coming.  There were warning signs all over the world, China, Italy, Japan, but no one did.  And I mean no one!  Even the experts with all the information didn't see this coming as the international travel, mass gatherings, conferences, were all still taking place right up to that society changing 24 hours. You think I'm exaggerating check this timeline out.   https://nationalpost.com/news/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-changed-the-world-in-one-week-a-video-timeline

I guess a lot of it has to do with how insulated life here in North America is for most of us.  We just haven't been affected on a real personal level with many of the things that the rest of the world deals with.  Revolution, mass food shortages, sweeping disease are things in the news that we take note of, even empathize with, but then are thankful that we live where we live. Even global conflicts Canada has been involved in like our 13 years in Afghanistan just haven't affected the average citizen on a personal level.  We have just become very used to going about our daily business effectively avoiding or weathering the storms that affect so much of the rest of the world.  I mean Ebola was some scary shit to read about and sure we were hit by SARS but ultimately we seemed to deal with that without much disruption to society.  This coronavirus thing would surely be something we deal with and move along.

Well here we are on the last day of spring break 2020 and the nation is self-isolating, borders are closed, domestic travel is restricted and we are all holding our breath hoping we can slow this thing down.  Now don't get me wrong, we are not enduring hardship and sacrifice yet, just inconvenience  and boredom but we are seeing government interventions and policies put in place that up to two weeks ago would have been unheard of.  The goal they say is to flatten the curve.  We are not talking about avoiding or stopping the virus we are talking about slowing it down to give our health care system time to react and respond while a vaccine is worked on.  Let us all hope that the inconveniences we are currently faced with help us avoid the greater sacrifices that much of the world has already endured due to this virus.

Joeseph Chamberlain, a British politician, was quoted in a 1898 speech as saying "I think that you will all agree that we are living in most interesting times. I never remember myself a time in which our history was so full, in which day by day brought us new objects of interest, and, let me say also,new objects for anxiety." I for one would definitely trade in these interesting times for a boring day on the beach with my family and friends!

Time Flies

I haven't posted or checked this Blog in a long time.  Funny, it didn't seem quite as long as it was but wow, time does fly.  Pretty crazy that Connor is now deep into his last semester of grade 12, Graeme is ending year 3 of university and is looking at transferring to UofA for next year and we are just a couple weeks away from our last spring break with Connor.  The next stage of our life is fast approaching and while Marla and I are looking forward to the next steps in our lives and the boys' it is sometimes hard not to be a bit nostalgic and wonder how it all goes by so quick.  Been a good ride and I sure hope it just keeps rolling.

The not so social media

Well I have done it.  After being a pretty early adopter to most social media forms outside of facebook (never could buy in to facebook, see my post facebook-shmacebook) I have deleted all  of my social media accounts.  I have been thinking about it for quite a while but couldn't come to click the delete button.  I can see the potential in social media for good and I value the information sharing it  allows, however, I can no longer take the negativity and "noise" that comes along with it.  I realized that every time I was on social media I became annoyed and frustrated. Now, I wholeheartedly acknowledge that this may have to do a lot more with me than social media but whatever, my  point is I am not going to invest any more time into an artificial world that breeds fake compliments and swarming negativity. 

Of course, this may seem a bit ironic as I write this on my blog but for me there is an important difference between my online posting and the social media world.  Social media posts are for others to see and comment on, often trolling for disingenuous validation.  My online posting are a record for me and I don't assume anyone is actually reading them.  They are actually my attempt at getting things off my chest and being less social.  Hey I am not saying I am right I am just saying this is the way it is for me.  If you disagree please feel free to not leave a comment.

WOW!!

After almost a year of debilitating nerve pain radiating through my right shoulder, chest and arm I finally woke up this Wednesday feeling better.  The ironic part is I was coming out of surgery with a hole in my neck and a titanium hardware in my spine but seriously it was better.  Thanks to Dr. Mutat at Lion's Gate Hospital and an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with titanium inter-body cage and plate fixation I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel after a trying year.

Last January I was gearing up for a summer marathon, was working out a couple times a day, playing soccer and ball hockey and feeling more like a 25 year old than a 45 year old.  Of course, just like an car the kilometers don't lie and eventually parts wear out.

February came and I began feeling some pain in my shoulder and arm I thought I had re-aggravated an old rotator cuff injury that I had not rehabbed properly.  Of course, when faced with nagging pain I adopted a strategy that had worked well for me over the previous 45 years... Ignore it and do more!  This strategy actually worked for a bit, I took a break from ball hockey and instead increased my weight lifting and running.   Spring Break in March was OK and the pain was just nagging shooting pains that came and went but it didn't keep me from running 11 out of the 14 days in Mexico.  Once we got home, the snow was gone and April was perfect for hitting it hard getting ready for a summer of play.

I work in a Sports School with High School athletes so I get a chance to work out every day and push the limits against some pretty fit kids.  Being a decent runner I take pride on being able to push the pace against the kids and show them the old dog could still bark.  By May  I was ripping off sub 4:30 kms routinely and was feeling strong.  Then on the May long weekend I had my over 30 soccer ice-breaker tournament.   Of course, me ever being the finesse player I am I took a very hard fall after being tackled on a break away.   I woke up the next morning and the pain was back in my shoulder and by the end of the month I was having trouble standing and that was that, my body demanded I shut things down.

Of course, shutting things down is difficult when I am in the middle of coaching soccer and working.  Soooo... while waiting for MRI appointments and pain meds to maybe kick in I decided a shotgun approach to therapy would be a good idea.  After all, if physical therapy was good, and acupuncture was good and chiropractic care was good why not just alternate between it all.  Well, can you believe it, things got really bad.  It was unbelievable how quickly I had gone from feeling like I was 25 to feeling like I was 75.  Constant, crippling nerve pain was unlike anything else I have ever dealt with before.  Physically and mentally it just takes such a toll on you.

Things started to move in a more positive direction in June when I went to play darts at the lake and realized I realized I could no longer through a dart and reach the board.  This loss of strength and function was alarming to say least and off I went back to the doctor. Well, I guess these new symptoms triggered some things with the doctors as within a couple weeks I had a referral to Doctor Mutat in Vancouver and an appointment in October.

Once I met with Doctor Mutat h explained that I had a herniated disc at C6/C7 and he could remove it and relieve the pain.  He actually said, I also have two "very unhappy discs as C4 and C5 as well" but they weren't bad enough to fix yet.  It was a 5 minute meeting in which he was very matter of fact and his confidence gave me hope but I still was very nervous about someone messing with my spine.  After all, my wife has made it very clear if I can't wipe my own bum all bets are off.

Along comes January 18th and my surgery date.  My pain is high and I am fighting a bit of growing anxiety.  You see I know these types are surgeries are done safely by the thousands but I am kind of a law of averages type of person so that 1 in 10,000 chance seems more inevitable the more times you hear nothing has happened.  Hey, I can't help it, it's how I am wired.

Well, here I am five days after surgery in my dog collar and the feeling of relief is unbelievable.  To only be dealing with "surgery" pain and not feel the incessant nerve pain is mentally refreshing.  To be able to lie in bed and get into a comfortable position is freeing.  After a year it finally feels like I am healing and not just in a painful holding pattern.  Going from playing team sports year round and playing with my boys on a daily basis to being able to do nothing but sit in a chair is a tough adjustment.  To think that I am the road to being able to play tennis or go skiing with my sons again is hard to explain

I am very  thankful that (so far) things have worked out and I am looking forward to getting through the rest portion of recovery and onto the rehab portion.  The doctors says I should be back to 95% and able to resume all activities, just not doing like I was 18 anymore.  Good thing I hear that 45 is the new 35!