Asking for Support When I Need It

The hands-down hardest part of self-care for me is asking for support when I need it.

Today was a hard day at work. Like, really hard.

There are days when I don't know how I'm ever going to be effective at my job, and today, at various points, was one of those days.

But here's the great thing about where I work: it's the most supportive place I've ever worked, from my director to my clinical supervisor to my colleagues. When I ask for support, it's there. When I don't ask for support and I know I need it, it's there. When I don't ask for support and I don't even know that I need it, it's there.

So, when I ended up in my clinical supervisor's office in tears from the frustration of the morning, she was there. In clinical supervision when I was talking about my frustrations, I was heard and validated and given the opportunity to figure shit out, and I was given ideas that I hadn't even thought of.

When the day was done, my supervisor and my director were both there, asking me how the rest of my day went. They waited for me.

I left work this afternoon after a day like this feeling good. There was nothing to process and mull over on my drive home because I was so supported throughout my day, so I was able to clear the mental decks as I drove out of the parking lot and leave it there.

Now if someone could start correcting papers for me, that'd be awesome. :) My semester ends this week, and one of my students told me yesterday that they voted for me for the Instructor of the Year award at the place that I teach. So, that's pretty awesome, even if I don't understand how it came to be that I was nominated. Rob reminded me that all it takes is reaching one student and I think I might have done that, but to be in the final running feels strange, particularly because I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of a buttface to my students. I have to be a buttface somewhere, and school is where that happens. It's like an itch that needs to be scratched.

Anywho, everything else is going pretty great at the moment. I'm ready for summer break, and after Saturday (and then after the second week of June), I'll be back in the office full-time. I'm pretty excited!