JumpStart Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (1/30/23)

Big Idea:  If you can't love yourself, you can't love others.

Confession time.

I have a tattoo on my back of the kanji symbol for tranquility. To me, inner peace is a quintessential necessity for personal contentment or happiness. If individuals strive for personal tranquility, I would bet the world would be a lot more peaceful.
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I’ve read that the same is true for love: If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love others.

What about self awareness? I would bet that the more self aware you are, the more empathetic you can be. I think it would be hard to recognize and understand emotions in others if you haven’t first recognized and understood them in yourself.

People talk about how this inner work of becoming more self-aware is selfish - we don’t have time for that because certainly there are more important things in our lives.

But is this true? As educators in a helping profession, I would argue that self-work is a prerequisite.

This week, try this: The next time you feel disgust or hate or fear in regard to another person, take a moment (even if it’s hours later) and do an inner dive as to why you felt that way. I wonder if it’s because you don’t like the same/similar quality about yourself?

Quote:  "If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else."  ~Marvin Gaye

Educator Resource:  ParentABLE - FREE for SY23-24! - Is your 8 - 12 curriculum looking for evidence-based parenting/childcare content? I would highly recommend ParentABLE’s 10-day unit that fits nicely into other SEL, families and childcare, early childhood, etc. curriculum. If you have started a pipeline for future teachers in your high school, this should be an essential unit.
I had a conversation with the founder and CEO, Katharine Bensinger and published it on our podcast. In it, she talks about their P.A.R.E.N.T. philosophy and how their perspective shifted during COVID.

Dad Joke:  I don't always whoop.  But when I do, there it is.

May this last week of January be the most peaceful one.  If this was forwarded to you, and you’d like your own copy, sign up here.  ~Matt