Far and Away

And learning from each other’s lived experiences @Zoe7 , it’s invaluable, and something I am very grateful for.

Yes the same here Hon - it all helps us feel less alone in our journeys @Faith-and-Hope

What are you plans for this afternoon?

Back to homework for now @Zoe7 , then a neck massage later this afternoon. I am finding it is making a big difference to the stress I am carrying in my physical body.

That is good @Faith-and-Hope We do carry a lot of that stress in our neck and shoulders - so pleased it is helping. Do you get headaches afterwards sometimes with the release of that stress - I used to feel worse after physio on my neck and always had a headache afterwards ...think that was part of my headaches this past week - too much time sitting around and feeling it in my neck.

Not generally @Zoe7 , but they do give you a glass of water after the massage, and then I sit at the coffee shop next door and have a herbal tea or a coffee, which I think helps to flush toxins away, so that might be why.

That actually sounds like a lovely time you have to yourself @Faith-and-Hope and makes sense that you get a glass of water afterwards. Have you caught up on your uni work enough to take it easy with it this afternoon?

Yes @Zoe7 , the work is easy to do, generally speaking, and not difficult to keep up with if you do it little and often in each subject area. If you don’t, it starts piling up, and it’s very diverse - some of it is research and some is practical stuff, both making small art studies or designing and documenting projects. It means that it’s very difficult to suddenly start trying to cram it all together, but that’s what starts to happen if you don’t put in the time and effort to keep up.

This institute is very good at supporting mental health though, so if you have some reason to need more time, assistance, exemptions etc, they will work with you to help you in every way they can, which is fantastic.

All of us needed to cram a bit in the last couple of weeks, because the year started a bit messy for everyone, and many of us didn’t quite have our feet under us, but that having been done, it’s back to doing little and often. We have also had some major projects to do or hand in, so that contributed to the messiness of it, but those are behind me now too.

Bit like house keeping really, and then getting an unexpected visitor when you have let it all go ...... 😏.

It is a bit like marking and planning for school as well @Faith-and-Hope You have to do some of it each day to stay on top of it otherwise it all piles up and you don't get anytime to yourself on weekends or in the holidays. So I can see how important it has been for you to get on top of it a bit so it is manageable. The beginning of the year was certainly a difficult start for all of you and you all had to find your feet quickly. I think S2 and Visual have done a great job to get to uni and do what they have been doing and you of course have been a great example of application and persistence.

Thank you @Zoe7 . While my Mum wasn’t actively teaching while I was growing up, I was well aware that teaching was not a profession where the work was all done at school during the day. I studied teaching for a while, and that gave me insight as well. Hats off to teachers ❣️

I have no doubt whatsoever that you would be an awesome teacher @Faith-and-Hope You have so much heart and patience and the kids would be both very well cared for and be made feel like each and every one of them was special. I hope one day you get to do something like that - what an asset to the teaching professional you would be.