Tuning in to Ourselves as we Welcome Autumn
The Bell Tower and fall colors around Furman Lake on Wednesday, Nov 6, 2024.
The beauty of fall offers a chance to tune in to ourselves. This season brings expected moments—Fall for Furman, mid-term grading, Homecoming—alongside amplified concerns about caring for one another in an increasingly divided world: supporting ourselves and our students while balancing the chaos of the news cycle with the healing of learning.
Rebecca Pope-Ruark’s Unraveling Faculty Burnout offers four keys for re-centering when overwhelmed: purpose, compassion, connection, and balance (read more from this 2020 Inside Higher Ed blog). While it may feel counterintuitive to invest time in ourselves as commitments ramp up, reflection during uncertain times can help us regain stability.
If the many prompts in Pope-Ruark’s post are too much right now, consider a self-scan using this slightly revised Small-Group Instructional Feedback model:
- What is my purpose? What about it fulfills me?
- What is the smallest step I can take to be more compassionate—to myself, my family, my students and colleagues?
- What is the smallest step I can take to include meaningful connection in my daily activities?
In The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer suggests ways to attend to (your) teacher within through “solitude and silence, meditative reading and walking the woods, keeping a journal, finding a friend who will listen.” If exploring these ideas in community feels healing, join our Reading Circle cohort on Palmer’s book (spoiler alert: the goal is spending time with colleagues, not necessarily reading the entire book).
Remember: sometimes “the smallest step” means crossing something off your list rather than adding to it. The “step” idea also conjures the Latin phrase Solvitur ambulando—it is solved by walking—or poet Antonio Machado’s words: “Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking.”
An Experimental FDC Program: Roam & Reflect
In response to colleague requests for unstructured connection and the evidence that even 10 minutes of daily walking, especially with others, can quell anxiety, reduce inflammation, improve belonging, and bolster creativity and problem-solving we’re launching “Roam & Reflect.” Faculty and academic staff are invited to meet on the library porch on Wednesdays in October. Pair up for as long as you like (10–50 minutes) to roam and chat about anything—or not talk at all. We’ll have prompts available if helpful. If the October gatherings are successful. we’ll continue the R& R options through mid-November and then pick them up again in the Spring (weather permitting).
No sign up. No reminders. No pressure. Come as you are, for as long as you like. Don’t want to walk? Settle on the porch with coffee or tea and just be.
Dates:
- Wednesday, October 8th: 1:30–2:30 PM
- Wednesday, October 15th: 3:00–4:00 PM
- Tuesday, October 21st: 2:00-3:00 PM
- Wednesday, October 29th: 12:30–1:30 PM