Taking Control of Fear and Chaos

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2

As I start of the new school year as a 5th year teacher, I am anxious. I am uncertain. I am…

Fear gripped me this whole week.

Before closing off the semester last year, my former students and I merely tossed my boxes of teaching materials into cabinets and on tables without much of a thought into this new classroom I was being moved to. We dusted off our hands and turned away from 2020-2021, with a click of the door.

When I finally stepped foot into my new classroom for the first time after summer vacation, I felt a rush to organize everything.

Everything was all of over the place.

Tape residue on old posters.

A bent up Growth Mindset banner.

School napkins and sporks sticking out of a box on a bookshelf.

As I slowly moved tables and desks into place, my heart slowed down.

Time for a fresh start.

I did not feel completely ready or motivated, but I felt better.

Enough to break out of my fearful and chaotic paralysis.

In his biblical series podcast, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson shared that the best way to deal with fear is to go to it, confront it, and not wait for it to come to you.

2021-2022 School Year, I am coming for you…in short, wary steps.