Core Value #5: Spirituality I wanted to be near water when I sat to write about spirituality, and because today is a rare day off school that I’m also kid-free—I get to do just that. I parked my car view a water view and pulled out my laptop. The movement and forms of water have always wakened something inside me, as if something in my body senses the waves, ripples, flow, or rapids and begins to move as well. I feel the movement within my chest, my arms, my abdomen, and my legs—a quickening, so similar to those first flutters… …Keep reading!

Core Value #4 Meaningful Work There are differences between a job, an occupation, a career, and your vocation. When I talk with kids about their futures and the world of work, I usually describe them like this: One of my top five core values, as determined by my most recent values sort, is meaningful work. This is because I’m someone who needs vocation in order to thrive. If I don’t find some connection to my deeper purpose within my day-to-day, my mental health deteriorates. I start to wither from within.  Meaningful Work: doing and providing work that has a purpose… …Keep reading!

Core Value #3: Honesty It’s Sunday evening and I’m fresh back from a weekend at the river cabin where we stay for a dear friend’s birthday weekend each winter—lots of natural beauty and very little phone service, which was a timely rejuvenation treatment for my soul. I did a little pre-writing for this post, sketching out the edges of honesty in my mind, trying to decide how best to describe why it’s so important to me.  Then, on the ride home, we came back online and became aware of ICE agents’ horrific execution of Alex Pretti in MN on Saturday… …Keep reading!