There is always a feeling about Term 4 that resonates with me. The weather is getting warmer, the gardens start to spring back to life, Year 12 students are heading towards the next step and the excitement of an extended break is on the horizon. And all of those things have prevailed again this year – the familiar cycles of this seasonal shift have once again been in the air, although a few things have been a bit different.
Around the area that I live in, there is a huge amount of construction work taking place as roads are widened and new development is steaming ahead. A lot of trees right near my house have been removed in the name of progress and I’ve seen firsthand the displacement of the birds, the possums and the snakes! I cried as the biggest gums were knocked over and have been watching over the nest and newly-hatched birds that have found safety in the trees in our backyard.
The laugh of the kookaburras has been replaced by the 24 hour squawk of heavy machinery and the temporary loss of the noise barrier has introduced us to sounds that we can’t identify. There is a mechanical white noise that we have learned to live with, and the suburban hum feels like a distant memory.
I have really leaned into my restorative habits to help me stay on the High Road!
I’ve read every letterbox leaflet about the stages of construction – great examples of priming for what is on the build plan for the next week and which lanes will be closed when I try to leave the estate. I’ve developed some stored responses which include alternative routes to avoid the closed lanes on the main road. I have a stored response that echoes in my head when cars scream up the closed lanes and block the traffic flow. I try to embrace the mindset that abandons an attachment to outcome – after all, I have zero control over the road and traffic conditions… but I can choose how I will respond! I have leaned into affective language: “‘I wonder why they are in such a hurry,” “I’m frustrated that people don’t merge like a zipper”.
I try not to celebrate when a driver has been booked for not sticking to the construction speed limit – it’s the natural consequence. And I have witnessed circle architecture in play when the construction crews gather for the daily briefing and inspections of the work stages. Definitely some examples of working WITH each other to have the timing of each step seamlessly merge into the next.
I am curious about what it will be like once completed; I am excited about the new sound barrier; I am sad about the changes to the landscape; I am hopeful that they will replant and the cycle of renewal will continue.
As you start Term 4, I’m interested in where you notice and employ the restorative tools in your daily life.
