Mic Check, 1, 2, 3…
Good morning, EQuipped Leaders.
As I start my first blog entry, I am keenly aware of how big the shoes are that I'll be trying to fill. It's not just that Elizabeth is a gifted writer with an exceptionally engaging voice, she's also an adept practioner of all things emotional intelligence. I am filled with gratitude for the platform she has built over the course of the past years. As I shift into the role of writing the weekly blog, I will be focusing on content from my forthcoming book, Regulated: How to FInd and Lead from the Eye of the Storm.
Here's the backstory.
I started working as a school psychologist for the Bryan Independent School District Special Education department in 2002. A year later, my wife, Kim, joined the BISD Special Education Department as occupational therapist. After over 20 years of work in education, we still love our work and find it deeply rewarding and satisfying. Now, get ready for the big and.
AND
It seems safe to say that nothing has challenged and depleted us like the last four years.
The World Health Organization declared in May of 2023 that COVID-19 "no longer poses a threat." That really is good news. However, we who work in education continue to see the effects of the pandemic. Our students are struggling. Our parents are struggling. Our teachers are struggling. Our administrators are struggling. In sum, we are dysregulated.
I don't see things getting better in the near future. Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow to a world in which we find Democrats and Replicans holding hands in a circle, singing Kumbaya. Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow to a world in which we all agree on which lives actually matter, on the value of social and emotional learning in schools, and on what national policy on the border should look like.
I know how cynical that miught sound, so I'll emphasize here that I'm not being cynical; I truly believe that not only is large-scale, deeper unity and peace possible, it is an ideal worthy of our efforts. I just don't see us landing there in the next few months. Or school years. There is still lots of emotional heavy lifting to do. We're still in a storm.
What shall we do?
In my days as an undergraduate student majoring in English, I was particularly fond of Ralph Waldo Emerson's writing. Here's a quote of his that has served as my guidon for the past four years:
"The wise [educator] in the storm prays to God not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It's the storm within that endangers, not the storm without."
That quote takes me back to the first two steps of emotional intelligence. Step one is self-awareness. Step two is self-regulation.
I turned 57 this year (and holy cow, how did I get here so fast?). After a childhood of trauma, mental illness, drug use and attachment issues (my ACES score is 7) I'm finally learning to find eye of the storm within me. What I'm finding is that doing so a regulating effect so powerful that the winds, rains, thunder and lightning outside me--while still real and powerful forces--control me less.
My goal as I humbly take the weekly blog handoff from Elizabeth is to guide you through the process of finding the eye of the storm within you. It's there, believe it or not, right behind your forehead. More on this in the weeks to follow.
Love, life and goodness to you all.
Adam
P.S. Elizabeth has been brilliant about finding images that further illustrate the points she made in writing. I'm not so sure I'm going to be good at that. For now, I leave you with an image of a baby and a kitten. Seems hard to go wrong with that.
