Closing Time

 

I remember back in my college days when my buddies and I would go out on the weekends and visit our favorite local establishments, there was this trend of playing Semisonic's Closing Time when it got pretty late into the evening. This was a unique way of the bar telling you that they are closing down business for the day and that you needed to get your last call in before you were booted out of the building. The song sends this message home in the lyric, "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." I often play this song in my head as I get to the various breaks in the school year where I won't see people for awhile. It's closing time for the holiday break and we need to shut down the school for awhile. So in the spirit of my nostalgic 1990's memories, I offer up this blog as a farewell to the first half of the school year.

So, gather up your jackets, move it to the exits. I hope you have found a friend.

It is my sincere hope that over the course of this first semester, you have made some relationships with colleagues that make it fun to come to work. The job of a teacher is a grind to say the least and it's important that we have people in our profession that we can lean on and have shared experiences with. Being an educator is only and isolating profession if we let it. Sure, we spend most of our day in a room with kids, but there are plenty of opportunities to engage with adults if we make an effort to do so. As you head into this holiday break, make sure that you find some time to spend with your friends who help you get through each day and tell them how much you appreciate them. You don't have to close down a bar with them, but you can certainly spread some holiday cheer by actually telling them how much they mean to you.

Closing time, time for you to go out, to the places you will be from.

For the longest time, I worked 14-hour days and used it as a badge of honor to justify to others the work that I do. As time went on, however, I realized that taking all the work home with me was only hurting me and my family. I needed to set some boundaries for myself and learn to understand that my job did not define me as a person. I made the decision that when I leave school each day, I leave work mode and enter family mode. By making this choice, I have taken control of my time and how I spend it. I needed to learn that work will always be there, but time with my family and friends are filled with fleeting moments that may not return. When it's closing time, shut it down and go someplace else. You need the break.

Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

Breaks are important because they allow us to reflect, recharge, and make adjustments for what is coming next. The semester is ending, but a new beginning is right around the corner. Closing time is a joyous moment because it marks a shift in time where we get to focus on ourselves and taking care of our own mental well-being. As Wren says in the movie Footloose, "there is a time to dance" and that time is now. Take advantage of it and do you.

#OwnYourEpic #Connect

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