Graduation Day
I'm behind on everything, and have at least three crucial emails I have to write.
But today, I hooded my first two PhD students and my first DNP student. I also cried very discreetly and my heart swelled up with pride and joy and love for these folks who worked so hard and will be such beautiful change agents in the world.
I wore Sarah's [dr_pretentious] robes and Ed's hood, and was literally wrapped in their love, and by extension, the love of so many beautiful friends.
I felt like I was passing my power to all three of them, and this transfer only increased my joy and my potential for transformative action in the world---it did not diminish it at all.
Next, I'm taking my whole faculty to Omega for a conference on introducing mindfulness into the graduate curriculum. Even more importantly, I'm embracing/creating this as an opportunity for a calm and supportive retreat to bring us all together as we revision what our program can look like one, two, three years from now.
I'm taking folks from every part of the program in order to generate a plan that will take its shape from all our wisdom and all our understanding---teaching faculty, research affiliates, two RAs to represent our students, my powerful and wonderful admin, an assistant Dean and a Senior Executive Dean. From my mentor Benjamin, I learned how to include everyone so their voices and insights are powerfully woven together, and I haven't forgotten those crucial lessons (OK, this doesn't actually happen until the fall, but I am pretty excited about it).
I'm also probably headed to an unusual conference full of health care revolutionaries in October---not your typical gathering at all. I looked at it and thought, "Hmmm, do I dare?" then thought, "Hell, why not? Throw myself in with the folks on the cutting edge and see what happens. It's not like staying in the safe zone is going to get me anywhere really useful. Plus, I'm growing change agents and health care revolutionaries. Who better to help me figure out how to help direct them?"
Finally, I'm working on two papers that I think will bring some unusual perspectives to the literature on physical activity among urban Latino communities. It's about the importance of parks and green exercise (walking, playing and running in green, verdant areas) for psychological, emotional and mental restoration among Latina women, and it even pokes a suggestive toe in the direction of the spiritual support of the green world. That's pretty exciting to me. For someone who's blessed with an overabundance of work, my life is pretty damn good! Hurray!
But today, I hooded my first two PhD students and my first DNP student. I also cried very discreetly and my heart swelled up with pride and joy and love for these folks who worked so hard and will be such beautiful change agents in the world.
I wore Sarah's [dr_pretentious] robes and Ed's hood, and was literally wrapped in their love, and by extension, the love of so many beautiful friends.
I felt like I was passing my power to all three of them, and this transfer only increased my joy and my potential for transformative action in the world---it did not diminish it at all.
Next, I'm taking my whole faculty to Omega for a conference on introducing mindfulness into the graduate curriculum. Even more importantly, I'm embracing/creating this as an opportunity for a calm and supportive retreat to bring us all together as we revision what our program can look like one, two, three years from now.
I'm taking folks from every part of the program in order to generate a plan that will take its shape from all our wisdom and all our understanding---teaching faculty, research affiliates, two RAs to represent our students, my powerful and wonderful admin, an assistant Dean and a Senior Executive Dean. From my mentor Benjamin, I learned how to include everyone so their voices and insights are powerfully woven together, and I haven't forgotten those crucial lessons (OK, this doesn't actually happen until the fall, but I am pretty excited about it).
I'm also probably headed to an unusual conference full of health care revolutionaries in October---not your typical gathering at all. I looked at it and thought, "Hmmm, do I dare?" then thought, "Hell, why not? Throw myself in with the folks on the cutting edge and see what happens. It's not like staying in the safe zone is going to get me anywhere really useful. Plus, I'm growing change agents and health care revolutionaries. Who better to help me figure out how to help direct them?"
Finally, I'm working on two papers that I think will bring some unusual perspectives to the literature on physical activity among urban Latino communities. It's about the importance of parks and green exercise (walking, playing and running in green, verdant areas) for psychological, emotional and mental restoration among Latina women, and it even pokes a suggestive toe in the direction of the spiritual support of the green world. That's pretty exciting to me. For someone who's blessed with an overabundance of work, my life is pretty damn good! Hurray!