Sixteen days ago I began writing for a BYOB (Blog Your Own Book) challenge. The challenge is to write a blog post each day for the month of August, so that by the end of August, participants will have written the bulk of the material for a book. Today I am celebrating my courage to put my weird ideas about reading and journaling as educator self care into the ether, my consistency, and my small steps (writing one blog post may not seem like much, but when it turns into a book it certainly does).
And I want you to celebrate yourself, too.
Celebrate the courage you’re showing by choosing yourself. Most educators put themselves last, but you are choosing to give yourself time and space to rest, reflect, and grow.
Celebrate your consistency. Forming a habit is difficult, but taking one small step day after day helps you reach your goals.
Celebrate your small steps. You wrote in your journal today? Good for you! You read for five minutes? Way to go! I’m not one to celebrate mediocrity, and please don’t get me started on children getting trophies just for showing up. Nevertheless, stepping into something you’ve not committed to before is daunting.
I applaud your efforts. Transformation is hard work.
Real-life transformation doesn’t happen like Cinderella’s “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” scene, which yields temporary change in Cinderella’s circumstances. Rather it plays out like Mulan’s “Be a Man” scene, which reveals Mulan’s strength of character.
I celebrate your strength of character. I celebrate you. You should, too.
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I am doing a 31-day series on reading and journaling as self care for educators. Each day of the series has bonus journal prompts. Click to join the LELA House family of educators committed to nourishing their reading, writing, and creative souls. You’ll receive a link to the journal prompts and gain early alerts for upcoming LELA House ideas, courses, and products. You only need to subscribe once. I will add a new worksheet each day to the access link.
Roshaunda D. Cade, Ph.D. is an educator, writer, and creator. She offers life coaching and writing coaching to educators, as well as other opportunities for educators to practice self care through reading and writing. Check out her LELA House website to learn more about her services. Roshaunda lives in St. Louis, MO with her husband and teenage children and enjoys reading, writing, dancing, and pushing her creative boundaries.