The summer came and went pretty quickly this year probably due to the fact that we had a little more freedom, not complete freedom, but a little more. We were able to catch up with some family and some friends and I don’t know about you, but I feel more connected than I have for some time. It is a good feeling. I have decided to take that feeling and replicate it at every opportunity.
Over the summer I finally reconnected with friends that I haven’t been able to see for two and a half years. Thanks pandemic. Friends that I have known since our babies were little so, 19 years all up. We first met in Cairns, they skied and stayed with us in Japan and we visited them in Grafton. Our kids are very close in age and are now almost all adults and it was crazy to see them having drinks together, playing a spot of beer pong and just getting along famously – the same kids who learned to walk together. We spent a week with them before Christmas and it was just a great week. We didn’t do a lot as such, but we did a lot just the same. There were jigsaw puzzles, dog walks, house painting, barbecues, reading and lots of chilling. We didn’t ‘go out’ or spend a truck load of money but we ‘were’. We hung out and chatted, ate cheese and drank wine. Together. We laughed a lot and told stories to catch up on each other’s lives. They filled my soul. Good people. Great friends. My people.
I am not waiting two and a half years again. Once the school year kicks off we will get busy. Really busy. And what we do in schools is vitally important, we have a big job and every teacher I know is dedicated to it but, we are important too. Our people, filling our souls, filling our cup, is vitally important. So, this year, let’s do it, let’s take the time we need to connect with our people. When we feel connected our bodies are flushed with hormones that give us all the feel good happy feelings, these feel good.
Happy feelings can sustain us as we work through the stressful times. They remind us that we have people, soul-filling friends who are there to connect with, to chill with and to laugh with and knowing that we will be connecting again soon can get us through. We can’t control what this year will bring but we can control our cup, and making sure it is filled so, despite all that is happening around us, let’s do this!
Check out other articles Cassie has written here.