What's Here Now? That Back To School Feeling
Even though its been a minute since I was last enrolled in school (Taylor Dane and Meat Loaf had hits on the radio, the radio!), I always feel wistful this time of year — maybe you do too.
Maybe all those years in classrooms have wired us to feel the pull of possibility that comes with the beginning of a new school year. The boxes of still-pointy crayons, the new clothes, fresh notebooks waiting to be filled. New teachers, friends, crushes (see that boy on the bottom left? Totally had a crush on him for YEARS). Maybe we miss the purposefulness of working toward something, of knowing what’s expected of us.
For the past few years, I’ve given my back-to-school feeling something to latch on to. A writing workshop with a literary hero for which I need to turn in a manuscript to be critiqued; a drawing project; and a deep dive into a subject I’m interested in — lately, for some reason, I'm super curious about the mid-to-late 1800s in the western U.S.
In my coaching sessions, I ask my clients this question over and over again: What are you learning? What I love about making up my own 'school' is that I’m working toward something — which is satisfying, but I’m also learning about myself in the process — what am I capable of? How do I surprise myself? What’s important to me? Yes, coaching is about action and working toward your goals, but it’s also about getting to know yourself more deeply. The action and the learning, together, is what makes change that sticks.
Take a minute and ask yourself some questions… What is my back-to-school feeling pointing to? What progress do I want to make? What am I curious about? Who are the teachers I need right now?
Listen for the answers — these are the beginnings of your lesson plan.
This originally appeared in my September 2018 email newsletter. To get on the list, sign up at pamdaghlian.com/newsletter