Ep. 157: Personal Update & Insights during COVID, Fires, & General Mayhem

SHOW NOTES Are you a Super Fan of Sunshine Parenting? I'd love to connect with you and share patron-only podcast episodes and resources and exclusive early content from my next book! Check out my brand-new Patreon tiers and join me for as little as $5 per month! Become a Patron! "Those things that are really, really important are generally the things that you wouldn't be able to take in a fire."Audrey Monke Hi Podcast Friends, This week I share a personal update and some insights. Among other things, I talk about: • The fire that threatened my camp last week and thoughts on what we choose to take in an evacuation. • Prioritizing our own and our children's mental health. • My journey towards learning to accept mediocrity. I also share about the work I'm doing through GATA (Gold Arrow Teacher Academy) to support and encourage teachers in the areas of Creating Community, Celebrating Strengths, Cultivating Character. And I talk about my goal of "finding my people" through my new Patreon community. Thanks for listening to this episode and joining me in raising a generation of kids who become thriving adults! Here's to raising a generation of kids who become thriving adults! Audrey I can't wait to get back outside (after the smoke clears). BIG IDEAS • The most important things in our life aren't things. • Importance of prioritizing our own, and our children's, mental health. • Teachers need support and resources to connect and engage with students (GATA). • We can take small steps, and make simple changes, to help ourselves and our children flourish. LINKS & RESOURCES • Creek Fire News Update (Gold Arrow Camp) • GATA (Gold Arrow Teacher Academy) • Join Sunshine Parenting on Patreon QUOTES • "Think about what it is you value. What would you really want to take with you (besides people & pets)  if you only had 10 minutes to gather it up?" • "We need to remember to prioritize the mental health of ourselves and our kids. Even before this pandemic, we've been in a crisis of anxiety and depression being on the rise and teen suicide being on the rise. For many, the pandemic has made those preexisting mental health conditions even worse." • "I really want to encourage us all to really take stock of how we're doing, how our kids are doing and what maybe simple steps or changes we can make and our homes and our families for ourselves personally, to improve our mental health, not just so that we're not depressed or anxious, but so that we're actually flourishing or thriving." • "Sometimes the answers are right in front of us and we already kind of know them." • "Getting therapy was so helpful to help me reframe everything and really think through how I got myself to the point where I was and what I could do to get back to feeling better and being my best self." • "This year, this time, and this season are not a time to overachieve. For some of us, it's a really good time to just get the job done and be okay being average." • "I'd rather have a small group of people who have more interaction and back and forth." • "I invite you to join me in stepping back and prioritizing, perhaps picking just one project that you want to focus on this fall, whether it's a work related project, something in your family, or a relationship you want to work on, or maybe it's something for your own mental health. I feel like we all need to step back at this point and really prioritize, because as I've learned in the last week, most of what we do or gather around us will or can disappear. But those things that are really, really important are generally the things that you wouldn't be able to take in a fire." Would you like to have access to bonus posts and podcast episodes and be part of my next book? Join me on as a supporter on Patreon!