We made it through February and here we are in March.
March has always been my least favorite month as a teacher. Growing up in Western New York, March is the month where you’re like, done with the snow…but it’s still going to snow. You get teased with a few fair-weather days, but the dirty slush pushed around again and again by the plows still hasn’t melted. Our eyes thirst for green. We are ready for Spring, but in this area, it just hasn’t sprung yet, literally or metaphorically. School is super routine. A restorative Spring Break seems so far away. It’s safe to say most of us are feeling a little…blah.
I would imagine many of us are feeling a need for a little refresh this time of the school year, so this month’s idea is a small shift in action that may help positively shape our thoughts. It’s all about how we move through our days, what we notice, and what we (literally) take note of.
Word of 2024
Do you know that Oxford declares a word of the year each year? In 2023, the word of the year was rizz (sigh). The Oxford word of 2024 was brain rot.
Yep. Brain rot. Here’s the definition: “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”
We’ve all felt it. We sit down, we start scrolling/doomscrolling and we look at the time and can’t believe how much has gone by. Oftentimes we feel exhausted, depleted, and unregulated. Yet, many of us have this automatic behavior of grabbing our phone within our busy days to see what’s happening outside of our lives, and it just leaves us feeling a bit heavier or darker.
So, 2024’s word of the year was brain rot. Here’s a different word for us to consider, from the 1600s – apricity. Go ahead and say it, it’s so fun to say. Apricity is an archaic word that has been lost from the English language for centuries (you get a red underline if you type it) and the definition is: refers to the warmth of sunlight in the winter.
The warmth of sunlight in the winter. We need that metaphorical warmth right now. I yearned for that warmth growing up in Western New York and I yearn for it as a fully formed grown up in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Take Notes
Our small shift in action that can help us feel apricity, is inspired by Bob Goff, author of some of my favorite books like Love Does and Everybody Always and host of the Dream Big podcast. He says, “if you want to live a noteworthy life, take a lot of notes about life.”
When would we want to take notes about life? Here are just a few ideas:
- When something happens that startles or awakens us in the most wonderful ways
- Reading/hearing language that captures us
- Hearing advice or a new perspective from a friend or podcast
- Noticing a small, ordinary detail that makes an extraordinary impact in the moment?
Taking notes on life is a practice I’ve done as long as I can remember. I used to use a journal, then a Writer’s Notebook, and now, I use the Notes app on my phone to capture these noticings. I have lists titled things like: lovely thoughts, “It worked out”, church notes, books to read, inspirational quotes, dates to remember, gift ideas, teach happier ideas, and my favorite…funnies (this could be funnies from students, your own children, or just life in general).
We can’t catch what we don’t chase. There are so many good things in our life worth chasing. There is noise that competes for our heart and attention every day. It’s like noise in an already noisy room. To lower the volume on that noise and raise the noise of the good stuff, jotting down what matters can help increase our happiness.
Writing it down is one thing, but then revisiting it is another. Instead of mindlessly scrolling social media and getting hits of “cheap dopamine” as we look at a curated version someone else’s life, (hello, brain rot!) we can instead spend time scrolling through real, true, meaningful things in our authentic life (hello, apricity!).
As we are reminded of words or ideas that startled us in the past, it can energize our present and make us turn toward the future with a little more optimism and energy. It’s exactly what we need this time of year. Sunshine in the Winter.
It’s not about the noise that makes our brain rot; it’s about turning our attention towards what makes our heart sing. It’s what brings us sunlight in the winter.
Now, that’s something worth taking note of.