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"Twinkle lights are the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments - often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we're too busy chasing down extraordinary moments. Other times we're so afraid of the dark we don't dare let ourselves enjoy the light. A joyful life is not a floodlight of joy. That would eventually become unbearable. I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude, inspiration, and faith."

-Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Trust. I trust that I really do not need another new planner for the year. Here's the thing - I buy them every year, sometimes super expensive ones from Erin Condren, but then I don't use them. I use my iCal pretty consistently for meetings and appointments and I use a notebook all the time to process my thinking in PD sessions and in meetings. So, even though there was a super cute planner at Home Goods, I resisted. I trust I will not miss it!

Gratitude. Feeling pretty thankful for a great new coteacher. We spent some time yesterday in our room purging a bunch of crap from eons ago and deciding what we will do with the room. It's going to be a great collaboration, and I can't wait for this year with her!

Also feeling thankful for my super thoughtful friend who has sent me not one, but two little polaroid on-the-go printers. This one works really well for pictures, this one is better for text. I used the one that does good text to design my new Writer's Notebook. It's going to be my goal to write every morning before work, and meditate. Now that I've got a beautiful notebook, I can't skip it!

Inspiration. There are so many teachers on Instagram that inspire me; I have been loving following the back to school journeys and seeing all the classrooms. Especially flexible seating options! Sitting on the beach gives me inspiration, too. While I mostly sit on the Fresh Coast where the waves don't roll in as big as on the East of West Coasts, it still feels pretty great to clear my thoughts there. Inspired by the app Calm - did you know they will give educators a free account to use their meditations with students? Check it out! Anyways, I have been meditating now for four days, and it really makes a difference in my day being able to label emotions but not flying off the deep end with them. I've been thinking about how I could use this with my students....

Faith. I'm having faith that there's something better out there for me. I'm about to put a final end to a relationship, one that isn't serving me, one that I know I am better off without. It's so hard though, especially when you can see potential. Especially when you can see all the good, and even when you are able to put all the bad stuff over to the side and move forward. But people do not change because anyone wants them to, they only change when they want to. Who knows when or even if that would ever happen? So, it's sad that there's going to be an ending, but I am having faith that something better is just around the corner.

Feel like bringing some joy to your life? Write a TGIF post and leave your link in my comments so I can be sure to check it out!

Happy Friday!