But baby, it's DARK outside!
It IS dark – How do you deal with darkness?
The morning after the “Fall Back” time change last month I have to admit that I had the kind of confusion I usually don’t experience unless I am jet-lagged. It gets dark really early again, now; and it won’t get better for about a month. Everyone around me seems to be yawning a lot. As the sun has not shone today and it’s 3pm, it feels like it’s already time to start cooking dinner. In a few weeks – or days even –, it will also be dark when we go to work.
Even if it is dark from the time you leave for work until after you leave for home in the afternoon, there is hope: December 21st is coming and with the 21st, everything changes again and we start having longer days. Normally I don’t have a real problem with the darkest days, but today it hit me, even though I have already walked the dog twice.
How about you? What do you do to get over those dark days?
One of the things I often do is look forward, and there is a lot to look forward to at the moment for me:
· My kids are moving onward and upward in education and careers
· My next session of supervision training is coming up very soon, and I’m really about done with the whole process (now writing my paper- 40+ pages in all)
· Thanksgiving is this WEEK J
· I think we’re going to Thailand, again next June
· Of course, it’s holiday time very soon and I have our Advent wreath all ready.
· We have a lot of pumpkin to cook (still)- today it’s soup time.
Supervision
Supervision encourages personal and professional development on a deeper level through the reflection and becoming aware of and changing patterns and attitudes for the individual and for the team (and even organization).
As in coaching, the client is king, just like the customer is in American culture, and the client is the real source of the solution, not the supervisor. The goal is to better the client’s ability to consider the work situation and atmosphere, the client’s personal patterns and competencies; there is also a possibility of supervising in teams, and even supervising the whole organization.
Some of the key activities include according to 4Progress where I study, “assistance in the accomplishment of professional tasks; reflection of professional activities and actions (instead of an instructive intervention); a new look at the person, task, relationships, and organization; promote self-control (self-management) competence; initiate learning processes; and "Thinking aloud" in the presence of another person outside of their own context.”
Thankful heart! Thanksgiving!
I love the month where we think of all the things we are grateful for. Another way I try and fight a dark mood is I try to begin and end my day with moments of gratefulness.
Christmas
This Christmas and New Year we are home and will be enjoying friends and family here, and I already have been making my homemade Glühwein (mulled wine- it’s really great if I say so, myself)
Thailand on our minds
As we head into November, we are planning a long-ish trip to Thailand in summer again to visit friends and old haunts. It’s time to keep up some important relationships!
So, as the sun sets- or rises, what do you have to look forward to? What are you grateful for?
Enjoy your (Thanksgiving) week!
Patricia Jehle
