Descending into December...We Find Light in the Darkness

Dear Teachers....it's been a year hasn't it?

There's something about sunrises.  The dawn of a new day brings the hope of all possibilities.  All things are made new, allowing us to get up and explore what the world has to offer. 

When traveling, sunrises can be incredible sights to see.  Remote locations across the world offer incredible views of the world awakening.  Light creeps through the darkness and touches the corners of the earth, illuminating space that a moment ago simply could not be seen.  These moments can be magical and unforgettable.

Yet, you also do not need to go far to capture the sunrise.  In your everyday life, there are magical moments that occur when you capture the breaking of daylight.  Seemingly trivial, day to day life becomes touched by the colors painted across the sky.  Each one captured provides a different canvas of light.  

There is a catch.  There's always a catch.  In order to see the sunrise, you must walk through the dark.  Cold, sleepy-eyed, why did I get out of bed mornings, darkness.  Darkness which feels overwhelming and bitter, especially during December as the days continue to shorten.  Darkness in which you do not want to walk through.  Darkness that feels like it just won't ever be light again.

Teachers, we see you.  As December begins, we are shifting gears slightly to focus on our fellow educators.  These dark days of December are cold and sometimes difficult to get through.  The holidays are magical, yet classrooms can sometimes feel far from that.  The days can drag on, and it can feel as though getting through to the end until break will never come.  And as education continues to struggle under the weight of darkness post pandemic, it may feel as though the light simply cannot shine through.

Yet it will.  December will close out another start to a school year, and the New Year will come.  The days of possibility and change are there, waiting in the corners.  We know it will come.  We know the days will go on.  There is light waiting on the horizon, ready to paint incredible pictures we have never yet before seen.

Yet sometimes we need help in the waiting.  And we know this.  So for the month of December we are going to shift gears and use writing to bring light in the darkness.  We will still post the places we go and the things we have seen.  Yet, writing will connect them to ways we can look towards the sunrise coming in January.  We hope to walk through difficult days and find magical moments.  We wait on the edge of the darkness with you, watching for the moments in which light will begin to illuminate places we may never have seen before. 

So we get ready to welcome December, as the month of November comes to a close.  We will embrace the darkness of December, knowing that the sunrise is about to come.  The light is going to come.  We are ready to walk with you, through the tough times and the magical moments, until we land at the perfect spot for the sunrise of a new year.

And it's going to be incredible.  

Teachers Pay Teachers

One of the spots we'll be using this month is Teachers Pay Teachers.  As we try to bring light, we'll post a few resources that may help along the way.