School Year Planning

I must admit the increasing amounts of email about the upcoming school year is taking its toll on me. I feel myself having bigger knots of worry.

My worried knots and I sat outside this morning. We sat on the patio and waited to see what new and better thoughts might come our way, giving us an alternative to small and fearful thinking. And then it happened. I finally noticed something profound, which of course was there all along.

I tilted my head up and really paid attention. Gosh, the sky is blue, I realized. As I gazed at the sky I noticed it’s a specific kind of blue. A clear, strong blue. I love it. How the trees look so elegant with that blue screen background. “Is that your Zoom background, trees?” I want to ask, half wondering if I could download it.

“No, silly,” I think they respond, their tall tip tops waving so gently in a breeze I didn’t realize was there. “This blue background is real. It’s really the sky. Look up. See how vast and clear and calm it is? That’s what your school year planning can be like. Don’t worry about storms not yet arrived. Just imagine a clear blue sky kind of plan—a way of being.”

I feel the breeze gently on my face now. The same breeze helping those tree limbs wave at me. “Wow! Can I do that? Can I be calm in my planning? In my visioning?” The trees nod a gentle, encouraging, “yes.”

My spirit feels better now. Less tangled. The trees are right. It will be a good school year. Maybe the best ever, I dare to think. Who knows? All the vast blue sky delights—they’re waiting for us, along with countless trees who nod with encouragement, urging us on: to plan and be our best selves. For the first time this morning I feel my face smile. I’m so grateful to my Auntie-Uncle teacher trees.

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