The past 6 weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. The first two weeks of summer at home I spent virtually alone as my colleagues, family and friends were still working or away for school or work. During that time I felt extremely productive. I scheduled tasks for the day and was able to spend some quality time pondering and organizing my thoughts. I went to the book store and purchased several books including Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga. I even signed up for the @VoiceEd radio book club on Facebook. I posted once!

Then summer happened…..my husband arrived home from the NHL draft and the Vegas Golden Knights Development Camp. My youngest son returned home from college and my friends were no longer working. My time was no longer my own. I scheduled lunches, dinners, plays, cottage visits, pilates classes, coffee etc. DO NOT GET ME WRONG…….I LOVED every second of time I spend with others getting caught up and assimilating with everyone again.

One of the highlights of the summer was our trip with friends to PEI. One week of fun and R and R. Shortly after our return it was time at the cottage with my husband’s family and then squeezing in as many friends and time with my family as I could. Before I knew it, it was August 5th and time to head back to Beijing.

Once I arrived back in Beijing I had a few days to re-adjust and get over the jet lag. It was also some time for me to spend with my oldest son Harrison and his partner Olivia who were here working for the summer. It was so nice to come from work those first few days to my family, to dinner and to conversation about our days. It was a reminder for me about how much I do miss my husband and family when I am here in Beijing. It is lonely here without your family.

I went back to work and all of the craziness of start up…orientation, new staff, professional learning, communications etc. To add to the craziness I organized a voluntary professional learning opportunity for our Math Leads in which some of my Thames Valley District School Board colleagues came over to teach staff about best practices in math. Their work with staff was inspiring and transformational. This meant attending to their needs and then entertaining and planning for the next day in the evenings. It was so worthwhile and I loved every minute of it but it was exhausting!

The beginning of the year is ALWAYS exhausting……this year I likened it to Extreme Marathoning. I often started my days at 4:30 or 5am and went to 10:00 pm. The time spent paid off and the beginning of the year has been a GREAT success! I am so proud of the staff and all of the things that they have been able to accomplish in this first week. Students and staff are settling into our learning community and things are going extremely well. It is probably one of the best starts of my career!

What did I discover through all of this……..

I need down time to create and to think. I have not written my blog in 2 months not because I did not want to but because I could not get my head clear enough to formulate my thoughts. I was just too busy.

This weekend for me has been all about getting my headspace clear enough to begin to create, to think and to plan.

I do not regret one second of the time I spend in the crazy chaos and fun of the last 2 months but I did discover that I need and crave quiet time with my thoughts so that I can make sense of things and process. I need it to create! I want to create! I want to write, to think, to plan and to grow!

I never considered myself a creative person but I have redefined that for myself. Creativity takes many forms and looks different for everyone.

How do you create?

Where do you fit time in to create?

How do you clear your headspace so that you can open it to creativity?