It's January 2nd 2019 and once again I'm on a boat on the Irish Sea. We're somewhere between Northern Ireland and England, although the boat wifi is convinced we're in Norway and my phone is trying to connect to the Isle of Man. My husband is having a well deserved nap and I'm trying to do that whole 'reflect on 2018 and plan for 2019' thing that we all do around the change of the calendar (both regular and academic).
2016/17 was such a nightmare professionally and then personally that 2018 went by in a bit of a blur. We craved stability, and we mostly found it.
Work - has been an interesting one. I've learned more about myself that I ever knew I didn't know. I'm getting better at putting my stubborn streak to good use and I am very thankful that my team are wonderful, as both people and as professionals. I keep finding support and friendship in unexpected places and I want to be more purposeful and intentional with that this year.
Twitter - as always, that last half term before Christmas is a complete pain, we are tired, fed up, overworked and overwhelmed. A lot of the people whose tweets I most look forward to reading went quiet and my feed became full of negativity, sniping and trolling (for want of a better word). I unfollowed many, many people and muted a few key phrases which massively helped. @arithmaticks blog post about keeping up appearances summed up what many people have been going through and is one that should be read if you experience and feelings of anxiety, inferiority or overwhelmedness.
Thanks to a retweet from @bbcTeaching (which I always think is the BBC #facepalm) I've found a little corner of Edutwitter full of Christians who are keen to share their #morningmoments and be an encouragement to each other. @trustingteache1 is well worth a follow if you're also a Christian in need of some positivity and reminders that, at the end of the day, God is in control, not us.
Lessons from 2018:
- My job is not my identity.
- Where we seek and get our validation from matters - choose wisely
- To have good friends, we must be good friends.
Goals for 2019:
- Continue to prioritise family life and get that office finished
- Be more consistent and persistent in my quest for a healthier life. 3 months of the gym once a week has been a great warm up. No excuses now!
- Submit my Irish passport application.
- Build stronger friendships in England so that it's more difficult for work to be all consuming in term time.
- Put more time into my Northern Irish friends in term time, as difficult as it is, there's a reason we've been friends for 15 years - they're the best ❤️
