Stress List....sometimes it is helpful to just lay it all out!

 

It’s been kind of a stressful week, so far….partly, it is the change of seasons, knowing that I have to move inside soon, back to a classroom, out of a garden and trails. But, this year, it feels bigger, like I am carrying so much more.  And it is hard to see what I can impact and what I need to let go.

1.       Climate Change. Even in the middle of pandemic, climate change is still happening. In April, emissions decreased by 17%, but it will not stay there—probably has already climbed back up. This is a huge threat to our lives and our planet.

2.       The elections. If they are close, especially, I am very worried about a national crisis. I’ve never been worried about the sanctity of the vote before, but I am this year.

3.       Systemic racism and violence, exacerbated by #2.

4.       Pandemic:

a.       OSU students returning, bringing more cases of the virus to my neighborhood. Constituents are afraid for their health and lives.

b.      Campgrounds are packed, as are other gathering places. We are not practicing social distancing, as a society.

c.       The economic fallout from this pandemic, which will impact both school and the city budgets. I get to make difficult choices in the next two years.

d.      This winter. We have made some adaptations because it is sunny and warm out. Stone Soup eats on the porch. What happens when winter comes? What happens to the homeless then?

5.       School starting.

a.       Online, which is so not my style.  School works because we bump into each other all the times. Online, we do not.

b.      Health concerns—mine and my students and colleagues. My eyes were giving out in the spring, when many students were not working hard and we were not required to be online 80 minutes at a stretch.

c.       No schedule yet. Although school is starting very soon, I do not know what I am teaching or when. I have five distinct preps that I teach- -which ones this year? Which semester? I would not care, but see point 5.a….

d.      All of the issues around school…. Access, equity, engagement…..they have not gone away. And I don’t think there is enough bandwidth on the planet for us all to be online at the same time.

6.       Fire season is about to begin. I saw lots of people with campfires in the wilderness a few weeks ago.

7.       Loss of community input because of changes at the city level. I am getting the fishy eye from people who are concerned that their voices will not be heard.

8.       Rogue councilor, because the concerns of my ward are unique in the city. We worry way more about some things—OSU, Climate Change—and less about others.

I know that I am healthy, I have a job that is stable and provides health insurance, that I can go outside and be in the woods in 20 minutes if I need to, that there is a community that surrounds me. I am lucky. But I am also deeply concerned about the health and welfare of that community, looking towards the future.