Finding the Energy to Help Heal Societies and Ecosystems

Abstract

Abstract 

Reviews my formative experiences as a child, my changing foci as a teacher educator and researcher, plus the intellectual, logistical, and emotional challenges of studying our biggest ecological and societal challenges and weaving them into my teacher education courses and our programs. I envision great possibilities, but these are balanced by my emotional and pedagogical challenges in finding the energy and focus to continue this work, despite lack of support and significant burnout from a 37-year career in teacher education. A long winter break COVID quarantine living in the basement provided me an opportunity to reflect on the now and imagine what would be needed to pull off another phoenix-like self-rejuvenation. I believe I found an energizing path forward with help from some old-fashioned self-care tools plus advice that I had previously rejected from my late mother.