January+2018

January 12, 2018
This starts with a bit of a retrospective.

2017 was an awesome year for the Norris family. January to April I was caught in the grip of my Doctoral studies...felt like the jaws of a T-Rex to me. And yet, I finished it all up, flew to Calgary for my defense, did well, and now I'm Doctor Norris. Feels funny calling myself that, and I won't be broadcasting my new handle on Twitter and the like. I know that many people do, and that's ok. It is just not my style.

April to September was play time. Oh sure, I worked, but motorcycles, gardening, juggling, a bit of carpentry and good times with friends were //de rigueur//. Four years of deferred gratification caught up with me I guess. The funny thing about finishing a degree is that people ask the "now what?" question, assuming that big things will change. My position as a mid-career teacher and grad student meant that so many great things were already in place: great job, great place to live, super network of friends and family...so no real need (or desire) to change anything. So, I enjoyed the Spring and the Summer.

In September I got back to work at Dakota Collegiate, and picked up right where we'd left off in June. As Teacher/Leaders we had staff data to collect to update our School Plan, PD to set up for the year and of course, the daily work with our students. My Grade 10 and 11 English Classes are wonderful bunches of kids, and life got happily busy after labour day. The biggest event in the life of the school was the opening of Murray Field, the multi-million dollar Public Private Partnership (P3) left us with a gorgeous artificial turf football field and surrounding grounds & landscaping. Murray Field is a gem, and it was a joy to celebrate the opening of the field this Autumn.

Then, a strange thing happened. I started looking at real-estate ads. As 2017 opened I thought the biggest deal for us this year would be me finishing grad school, but I was wrong. If you had asked me in early September, I would have told you that there was no chance we'd sell our home, buy another, and move in before the beginning of December. For all of my study about "futures" and the cone of possible, probable and preferable futures I was completely blind to the biggest changes our family has faced in a very long time. Buying, selling, packing and moving in the final quarter of 2017 mean that the first quarter of 2018 is all about unpacking, sorting, listening to the new sounds in a new house, and wondering what the yard really looks like under all of that snow.

So, my writing here has diminished. A quick look at the "edits" graph is funny for me; I added content to this site only once last year. This data suggests that 2017 was a quiet year. Not really, just quiet on this website.

Looking back, 2017 was an amazing year personally, and a tough year globally. Looking forward, 2018 has all kinds of potentials to bring out the very best in people. Having recently completed a Doctorate in Education I feel, know, and live the possibility of overcoming challenges. I don't know how long I'll feel this way, but it is good to feel it now.

Looking ahead to 2018, there are challenges on every side. While challenges (of every sort) can seem overwhelming, there is no remedy but to face them in the present and apply ourselves to the problems that we face, hoping that our efforts will bring about changes for the better.

As we begin another year, may we find our places in the challenges that arise.