For the past week or so, I have been making a concerted effort to reach out individually to clients, colleagues, and friends. I wanted to check-in and see how they are doing. Motivated in part by last week's e-zine, I felt like it was essential to connect on a more personal level. I wanted to hear their voices, see their faces, and learn their pandemic stories.
Some connections were by phone, some by email, and others by video chat. The conversations were as enlightening as they were entertaining.
Interestingly, regardless of the age group (HS/MS/ES), or content area (B/C/O), the same sentiments came through time and time again: sadness, frustration, exhaustion, and futility.
In short, they were all Les' Misérables!
Because of the pandemic, everyone is doing more with less, working harder, and not necessarily smarter. More time spent in front of a screen time means less time making music. They are teaching harder, but students are learning less. Full Zoom rooms mean Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, daily finding themselves wondering, "Am I On My Own, or have I just Dreamed a Dream?"
Sound familiar? Feel familiar? Well, it should, because we are all feeling it.
Yes, ALL! You are not alone. Not even close. Yes, all of the positive posts on social media by your colleagues about how happy they are to be back are a ruse. They are putting on a fake smile and masquerade what they are REALLY feeling, which is like crud.
It's okay to feel like crud. We are living in a cruddy time. Have you ever heard of a pandemic during good times? Nope, pandemic defined means "default to crud." (Editors note: That is not true; he just made it up.) And, the natural result of being in cruddy times is that people feel like crud.
And to be clear, the election isn't exactly picking up anybody's spirits. After a day of remote learning, we all Look Down and ask ourselves, "Who Am I?" and "What am I doing?"
Your personal and mental health are critical and need to be considered in all of this madness. It's okay to feel mad. It's normal to feel frustrated and overwhelmed. It is expected that you will feel sad. What is not okay is to feel those things and do nothing about it.
Last week, I wrote about the importance of connectivity, and as early as last June, I sounded the alarm on persona/professional mental when I wrote an Industry in Grief and Finding Meaning.
At the End of the Day, none of us are feeling good. No one ends a Google Classroom session thinking, "Now THAT was a kick-butt rehearsal." No one is editing a virtual ensemble thinking, "This is what I was dreaming of when I got my music degree!"
In My Life, I never thought I would see something like this. Kids in masks spread six feet apart, or worse, kids on screens spread six miles apart. But, it seems like I have been saying, "I never thought I would see something like this," a lot lately.
While these are not normal times, these feelings are perfectly normal. It does not matter where you went to school or how long you have been teaching; you weren't trained for THIS!
In fact, we were trained for the exact opposite of this!
Our profession (music education) has clearly and repeatedly reaffirmed the notion that if we want more — we need to do more. More drill, more music, more choreography, more notes, more performances, more contests, more staff, more meetings, more money, more, MORE, MORE!
But what we're discovering is that in this pandemic and life, the answer to getting more of what we want isn't addition at all, but subtraction. The Harvard Business Review article: Want to Be More Productive? Try Doing Less helps us discover that we might all be better off if we just stopped, took a break, and aspired to do less. (I've been trying that. It's not working, and I'm too lazy to try harder…)
Recent evidence shows that if we want to increase both our productivity and satisfaction level, we should actually be doing less. David Rock, the author of Your Brain at Work, found that "When you stop doing the things that make you feel busy but aren't getting you results (and are draining you of energy), then you end up with a sense of peace and spaciousness that you are seeking."
As teachers and people, our days and lives are full: kids, careers, friends, passions, logistics, and more. How can we apply the wisdom of doing less to give ourselves more time and alleviate stress without jeopardizing our results? Change the results you are looking for.
In a recent conversation, when I asked a director how she was doing, she replied. "I am itching to get back to normal, but I am enjoying being home more. I am enjoying the break from the grind associated with competitions. Honestly, this has been the least stressful fall of my career." That is a result I can get excited about!
Life is not something to "survive." Neither is music. For our students or us. While we would not choose to be in these circumstances, we can choose to see the good in it when possible. Our programs and our lives should be a place where we thrive and say, "YES, One Day More!"
Will you do me (and yourself) a favor? Do less today. Prep a little less, teach a little less, work a little less, cook a little less, and let the laundry wait until tomorrow. Do something fun, indulge your inner laziness, and for one day, let the to-do list go and focus on a Heart Full of Love. Do it for yourself. Do it for your students. Just do it!
Victor Hugo reminds us that, "To love another person is to see the face of God." He just forgets to also say, you can't love someone else until you first love yourself.
At the End of the Day, if this doesn't work, shoot me a Zoom link, and you can Drink with Me. Then we will both be a little less Les Misérables!
Have a GREAT week, everyone.
- Scott
p.s. Give me some props; I was able to get 14 of the 18 songs in this email. I stopped at Lovely Ladies and Master of the House. I didn't see that ending well for me.