This is a little ditty that riffs of the “ode genre” of poetry that I dedicate to all the Type A, list-writing, often-introverted humans out there (LIKE ME) that are surprised every single time they realize the do, indeed, very much need other humans to stay healthy, balanced, and productive. I have to actively resist the urge to “make every minute the most work-efficient possible,” but the irony is, each time I let go and make space for breaks and conversation with other humans, the rest of the day is SO much more productive.
In praise of coffee machines
And water fillers
And mailbox stations.
In praise of tea bags and hot water
And teacher-lounge birthday cakes.
In praise of communal bathroom sinks and mirrors,
And “come-and-get-em-while-they’re-here” leftover snacks spread out on a table,
In praise of copy machines.
Shared spaces.
Shared tools.
Beginning in our professional pursuits,
“I must make copies of that poem or that agenda”
Ending in delightful disruption: “there are others in this community too.”
In praise of all the spaces and moments that remind us of our shared humanity,
(“You need water? So do I! What a coincidence!”)
The zooming-out that helps us take our very important thing less seriously.
In praise of slowing down and making eye contact and replacing the martyr-like-sense–of-urgency with
“I’ve got time for you,
for this unplanned conversation,
for a moment of connection.”
In praise of serendipitously timed walks from the parking lot to our various destinations,
In praise of you getting a glance of my messy car trunk,
Spying the way my driver’s side mirror is hanging on with some grace and clear duck tape,
Noticing my 7:15am plastic cup filled with overnight oats.
Kindly gesturing, “Hey- you have something on your face.”
In praise of unplanned drop bys to my office,
Right when I am really locking in and focusing on a task.
In praise of
“Just wanted to tell you something about what happened in my class” or
“Just wanted to see what you thought about _______” or
“I need to unload some stuff. Here goes.” or
“I’ve got some hard feedback to give you, but it comes from a good place.”
In praise of all of the offices and cell phone numbers and google chats and emails that
I take refuge in,
When I feel perplexed or lost or stuck or in need.
In praise of the fact that for every negative interaction, misunderstanding, conflict,
There are 100 innocuous head nods and “how are yous”” and “hope you have a great class!”
In praise of unmerited, undeserved, positive assumptions flooding our work together.
In praise of serving as ticket-master at the football game or theater performance,
In praise of the warm-notes soaring in the CPA for a band or choir concert,
In praise of I don’t have to be here, but I want to be here.
In praise of beauty.
In praise of exchanging our work clothes for sweats and hoodies,
Seeing the children cheer and kick and throw and shoot,
Finding a row of other faculty and sitting beside them.
In praise of the next day, as student tiredly shuffle into my classroom,
“I saw you make that goal last night!”
In praise of pausing your packed-to-the-brim day to fill out a google form to shout out a colleague.
In praise of happy hours after school and all the work christmas parties coming up,
Blurred lines between friends-colleague-work-fun.
Surprise at the fact that, indeed, we like each other. We could hang out more often.
Maybe we should.
In praise of how terrible I am at estimating exactly what will make me happy.
In praise of the social events I dread,
In praise of entering, drained and exhausted,
And exiting, strangely fueled up again.
In praise of staying out past 9pm on a weeknight.
In praise of the stories that erupt when we make space for
“What did you do this weekend?”
When small talk shifts into something bigger.
In praise of guffaws and tears-welling-up.
In praise of those three minutes we are waiting for another meeting to end so another can begin,
In praise of third spaces, in-between spaces, not-quite-here-nor-there spaces.
In praise of wasting time.
In praise of walking back to our offices, classes, meetings, piles-of-tasks,
somehow
lighter.