Good morning friends,
As some of you might know, I am planning a relocation in the coming months. I'll be leaving my beloved neighborhood of West Philly and heading west to be with my sister and mom. My sis and her husband have lived in Yuma, AZ for ten years and have two beautiful children who I clearly do not see enough. My Mom packed up and sold her house in Jersey to be a closer Bubbie, my Dad and stepmom June have been making yearly extended PopPop & MomMom trips, and I now find myself needing to be an everyday Aunty as well. This means that my career trajectory will also change a bit as I move from the familiarity of PA to the yet unknown of Arizona.
I have, for quite some time, felt in my heart that I am meant to share my passion for early childhood education by creating, or at least helping to create, a high quality early learning program. Despite tremendous support from colleagues and families with whom I closely work, and a year of intense research and planning in the Philadelphia community, I have not yet taken the startup leap.
Since around the time of this blog's creation, as I continued to experience the powerfully transformative effects of mindfulness practice, I decided that my next professional step will be to throw myself fully into sharing its benefits with early childhood teachers and families with young children. I am working on a business plan for a community-based nonprofit where I will be able to offer services to the Yuma community within a space that could also be used for much more. It is a plan I am excited to grow. But as autumn (my season of relocation) moves closer, I also realistically understand that I will need to continue bringing in an income as I develop my business. I therefore began to investigate the early learning community in Yuma and I feel both encouraged and disheartened at my early observations, both from the standpoint of an employee and as an enrolled child.
In Philadelphia I have always had employment options. I am qualified to work in a classroom, but most recently I have chosen to work one-on-one with several families as a private caregiver and early childhood educator, a nanny. The flexibility, autonomy, and immense impact I can make in becoming so close to families has just felt right for me. There have always been plenty of families able and willing to pay for my level of attention and I have not ever had to worry about finding work. There does not seem to be much of a nanny market in Yuma, and so I began looking at early learning programs for which I might work. There are many childcare options for families with young children, but my initial research did not find a great many high-quality options. Not only do the expected wait-lists abound at the limited programs available, but there are also qualifications to be met in order to enroll, whether income or employment-based. In a world where families often need to supplement care of even very young children, the decisions about how to do so can seem trying at the least. There is a great deal of research that informs us of just how important early experiences are to the growth and development of humans. Not only is there the issue of outside care and education of the children, but also that of parent understanding and growth. Where or how can the average family ensure an optimal daily experience (daily life experience = learning) for their children? I now find myself wondering, "Where will I find myself upon first moving to Yuma? How can I make the most vital impact? Is my most logical first step to open a mindfulness studio, or would I be of more value working directly in early childhood education?" That heartfelt message just keeps coming back to me. I did not start a school in Philly, but maybe Yuma is where I was meant to be...
And so as I sit on a bench in Clark Park today, shielded from the spring raindrops by the tree umbrella above, I seek clarity. I still have so much to learn in the field of early childhood education and in the practice of mindfulness. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed at the books to be read, the conferences to attend, or the certifications to attain. After some moments of silence this morning, I remind myself: Practice. Life is about practice, in all that we do. Practice makes progress, and progress can only occur if we commit to the practice. With a deep breath in... clarity, and with a slow exhale... peaceful practice.
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