Adrian's Top Five

We all feel it. Some days are heavier than others. A human life contains myriad highs and lows; joys and sorrows; relaxations and stresses. Sometimes glimmers are temporary: we have a good day at school or work, a kind smile from a stranger warms us against the November wind. Sometimes stress and anxiety seem to drag on forever, lasting weeks, months, or years. Teaching during this school year feels heavy. Inside the school building, exhaustion and stress are palpable. Teachers are fatigued and weary. Outside, our polarized world is becoming increasingly volatile and unstable.

I don’t usually feel this way until December, but this school year is different. The whirlwind of school is now a hurricane of meetings, pacing guides, and testing. Everything feels like it’s moving at breakneck speed, and yet it is only November.

Winter is coming and I don’t want to enter this “dark half of the year” holding onto cynical and nihilistic thoughts. If this is, indeed, a crucible to endure, I plan to do so, focusing on the simple pleasures I can control, instead of the madness I cannot. Here are five things1 I enjoy and make time for as I slow down, rest, and prepare for Spring.

1. Loose-Leaf Green Tea

The first thing I do each morning upon waking is boil water for my first cup of tea. As I quietly wait and listen for the water to warm, I spoon a heaping teaspoon of loose-leaf green tea into a steeping basket, and stare out into the darkened neighborhood from my kitchen window. Once ready, I pour the 190°F water onto perfumy hand-rolled tea leaves, letting a Jasmine fragrance waft into my face. This little ritual is how I start my day, and it is a simple pleasure that I look forward to each morning. Smelling my first cup of tea in my darkened kitchen feels mysteriously sacramental.

2. Listening to an Entire Album, Start to Finish

Being a Gen Xer, I remember sitting in my bedroom listening to an entire album on cassette, and