Community Connections
Share your best/worst advice and wish-you'd-known things!
It's college graduation season: a time full of excitement and celebration, served with a side of trepidation and anxiety, and topped with hope (which, unlike guacamole, doesn't cost extra, but similarly is sometimes in short supply). I can feel that whole big salad of emotions in almost every conversation with students.
It's a popular time for doling out advice, some welcomed and some, not so much. Which has me thinking about the messages I've gotten over the years that supported and nurtured my creativity and well-being (or didn’t). It's also made me curious about what advice others have gotten in life that resonated or didn't, as well as, the ah-ha moments we wish we'd had just a little bit earlier than we did.
This week, instead of writing my typical post here— I'd love to hear from you! I'll kick us off below and then, I hope you'll chime in, in the comments!
Worst advice: That you should answer all your emails in 24 hours. This wasn't advice from one particular person, just one of those nebulous you "should" be able to do this things that exists in the (toxic) productivity ether. Cal Newport's book Digital Minimalism was a super helpful antidote to this advice that helped me feel less bad about myself not hitting this metric.
Wish I'd known earlier*: That "introvert" isn't a synonym for "shy"— it's so much more nuanced, complicated, and amazing than that. (*though to be fair, middle-school me might not have been that into reading Susan Cain’s Quiet, even if it had been published then, so maybe we get the right lessons at the right time).
Best advice: Be scared and do it anyway. So many people talk about this, but it sunk in for me when I heard Liz Gilbert describe it in an interview. And it was further entrenched for me by Kelly McGonigal, in her book The Upside of Stress, where she talks about times when our stress response (which often shows up as fear) is just preparing us to do our very best.
Your turn! Give me your best/worst/wish you’d known in the comments!
This Time Last Year
has an On This Date section on the sidebar of his website that shows past posts from the same date across the years. Borrowing that concept to take a little trip back in time here:In 2023: Thank You for Your Patience / Quietly rebelling against hustle culture, one email at a time
In 2022: The Age of Obligation / Except is it really just about obligation or are we also distracted?
Mindful Moment
I’ve had a lot of evening events recently (see: graduation season), which has meant my bedtime has been a bit all over the place. When I can’t seem to convince my out-of-routine brain it’s time to sleep, I’ll try meditation. Progressive relaxation where you focus on slowly releasing tension in each part of your body from your toes to your head often works well for me. I definitely fell asleep to this one (so if the ending is terrible somehow, apologies— I probably didn’t hear it)!
Squirrel of the Week
shared this photo over at and mentioned he thought I would enjoy it. He wasn’t wrong!
Excited to hear from you about your highs, lows, and wish-you’d knowns! What are those touchstones you always find yourself coming back to?
Pamela J. Sperbeck
Worst Advice to this new teacher: Don't let your students see you smile until Christmas. My response: Oh no. I love my students as soon as they walk through the classroom door. It's a magical connection. So I will be smiling. I will ask my students to just keep me smiling. Best Advice was from the mother of the author of The Healthier Hustle: She told to be to keep at the forefront of my mind (and heart) that my classroom is a mission field. If I am true to myself and share the light and love of God in how I care and prepare my students, then I will be a success.