Look to the light
Warmest, brightest of hellos in these grey days (unless maybe this is reaching you in sunny climes, and if so, can I come?).
How are you doing?
I often forget to ask myself that. Or to really give myself time to answer honestly, messily. I inadvertently ‘background’ myself–amidst my kids’, family’s, work’s needs and to-do’s. How about you? Do you remember to ask yourself how am I? And can you hear, and tend to, the answer?
How am I doing? I’ve been really, really sick. Some kind of pneumonia-like virus. I’m not sure if it’s COVID round #4, the flu, or a viral combo. Whatever the buggies have been, they’ve knocked me out flat for two weeks and counting.
This has left me widows of time to listen, catch when the clouds part, and contemplate what lifts and lights me up.
#1: The light around us
When the fever was raging and the pain was fierce, I couldn’t really read or watch anything. But I could listen. And what a gift to stumble upon the gifts of Dr. Andrew Huberman’s “Huberman Lab” podcast. I found my way to a “journal club” episode he did very recently with Dr. Peter Attia where together they meet to carefully explore two academic texts with compelling, health-promoting research. This specific one had Huberman deep dive into the crucial role of light exposure on all facets of health.
Watch / listen to the episode
Read a summation of Dr. Huberman’s prioritisation of morning and evening light
(That I was listening in the dark during the darkest time of the year was an ironic nudge for me to rethink my relationship to light.) The biggest takeaway for me was the stunning statistic that we collectively spend 90% of our time indoors and that our lack of light exposure, particularly in direct, early morning sunlight and then again in setting, low angle, evening light, has a direct correlation with mental health and an array of wellbeing implications. A direct correlation.
As you know, I’m not a therapist, social worker, or counsellor. But in the words of one recent client connect call, “ah, what you do is sort of like academic therapy!” Yes, exactly. Awakened Learning is in the transformative work of holistic academic resilience, of rebuilding school skills, of sharing the how that helps learning go and feel better. While not therapy, it is therapeutic. And moving well, sleeping well, resting well, and connecting well in community–these are always entwined in learning strategy sessions, whether about note-taking or time management. Now light exposure will be included in our team’s go-to learning strategy repertoire. For good sleep, good physical and emotional health, and good learning.
#2: The light within
It’s been so touching to see the abundance of heart-based, uplifting gatherings and offerings happening this past month. Art-making, dancing, cold-plunging, talks, panels, environmental gatherings, and many many social justice meet-ups. Everywhere I turn, on IG, on my neighbourhood parent Facebook community, there’s a lot of vitality in this dark season.
There are also so many things that interrupt our ability to attend an event. Sometimes we can’t make it out to the big do, whether for health, family, location, or schedule reasons. In the past couple weeks of being sick, I’ve missed dim sum, a birthday surprise date at the symphony, an over-40 women’s dance party, an eco-activism event, contemporary dance class, capoeira class. Sometimes we just can’t go.
So, I have a small, subtle, at-home offering, whether you’re under the weather or staying in just because. It’s from Adobe, and it sweetly guides folks through their “creative type.” It’s brilliantly done, fun, silly, quick, and impressively… well, creative. And, while I’m all for not typifying people, a little “what’s your type” creativity moment has its sweet place.
I’ve used this with student-clients before, especially learners who don’t easily “find their place” in school (yet). Who are craft-wizards, musical misfits, poets, sewists, feelers. It’s a gentle, benign conversation springboard into creativity that welcomes folks just as they are. About their creative spark.
We’ll leave it there today. Wishing you good health, longer days, and light that surrounds you and exudes from you.
With deepest care, and wishing you good learning,
Deena