It’s Not a Movement if Everyone’s Just Sitting - It’s a Support Group

 A new piece of furniture I added to my classroom this year was a standing desk. I had salivated over several the year prior when I subbed in other teachers' rooms. What a great way to work on my posture, stay on my feet, and prevent my smart watch from beeping at me every thirty minutes telling me it was time to stand. In full disclosure, I also wanted it as a preventative measure against neck and back pain - a common malady if I sit at my computer for too long doing paperwork related to the IEPs I write. The standing desk didn't disappoint. It was exactly what I had hoped for.

When we lost Jack this past fall, it took the wind out of my sails for quite some time. Logically, that makes sense. We lost. We lost. We lost. I felt that keenly especially because I host this website which is dedicated to Mental Health. I advocate for mental health topics here and in many other forums, but I couldn't save my own son from ending his life. It could have been a lethal punch to the gut, but I took time to rest, recover and gather courage to move forward. To give up hope is to give up on life - something I refuse to do.

When I watched the movie, On the Basis of Sex, about Ruth Bader Ginsberg's early career, I felt so much admiration for this strong, sensible, classy woman, but I also developed admiration for her daughter who, unlike her mother, wasn't afraid to stand up to a group of men who were cat calling them both one day or to participate in rallies even if it meant facing arrest. When her mom challenged her on why it was more important for her to be safe, this quote left an impression, "It's not a movement if everyone's just sitting, it's a support group."

Aren't you tired of watching the world fall apart and wondering who's going to act to change it, to make things better? It's time to get up off our couches and affect change. I'll finish with a dream I had four or five years ago. I was under attack - in danger of being killed. In my dream, there were two men. One was behind me watching the scene unfold. The other was facing me sword in hand. In my dream,  I waited for the man behind me to "save me." He didn't, and I knew I had a choice to make, if I was going to live, I had to act. I wrestled the man in front of me, took the sword, and ended his life instead of letting him end mine. I don't often recall my dreams, but this one has stayed with me all these years. It really is a representation of my life now as I don't wait for other people to fix my problems, I work to fix them myself. I truly believe we all have that capacity in us, that type of immortality - the ability to affect change that spans across generations. Let's get to it.