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Last month, as summer ended and fall began, monarch butterflies visited the purple butterfly bush in our back garden. One day, when I stayed home sick with the sore throat and chills that seemed to be sweeping across our campus, I ventured out into the backyard in pajamas, wishing for the sun to heal me.
I noticed three monarchs at the butterfly bush. They would move around, weaving through the branches, and then settle on a bloom for a while. I walked up as close as I could without startling them. As I watched their busyness, I stopped for a while. I stood completely still.
Stillness is what I have yearned for all through October, the month that seems busiest in the academic year and when the long weekend around Thanksgiving feels far away. I have raced from one deadline to the next, still enjoying watching my students learn, very much enjoying the communities coming together in the classroom. And stopping and being still when I can.
On a recent afternoon in Meadowbrook Park, I walked around a curve and was offered another invitation to be still.
