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Dear, Johnnie!

 


What's up, Week 6! We are quickly making it through the Summer, and I can't believe we are in week 6. This week I've had the opportunity to be back home in Indiana! A trip that was needed and right on time, as the Summer term has been just as busy or even busier than the Spring semester? I am still deciding which one has moved quicker. However, week 6 had a tool that perfectly fits where I am presently in my life. Futureme, I have never heard of it before this week, but I am happy I know now about Futureme. For those who have yet to explore Futureme, I highly recommend doing so because Futureme offers the opportunity to write a letter to yourself! I love activities and moments to self-reflect, journal, process, and read words of affirmation. Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed by everything I have my hands in, whether in my personal life (adulting..." yay!" ), my own academics and coursework, teaching, research projects,  and just navigating life in general. In addition to enjoying this course, it comes with its challenges of constantly being on digital and social media platforms. I noticed more now than ever that the breaks and pauses are necessary. Therefore, I wrote a letter to myself that I will get 6 months from now because I want to look back at this moment, at the end of the year, and celebrate how far I have come. Celebrating the highs and lows because it is all a part of my journey, and I am coming to understand that with grace, love, community, and motivation, you will get to the end and smile about the journey. I am practicing being more intentional with taking time for myself because I give so much to others, and I know I must do the same. I am glad to have had this moment to pause and reflect. I will definitely use Futureme in some of the leadership courses I teach as a way to get my students to do some reflecting and processing, and the letter can be a "Dear Future Leader" letter about how they hope to see themselves engaging in the leadership process throughout their journey (Beatty & Guthrie, 2021).  

Utilizing Futureme this week allowed me to pause and reflect as I have been more intentional with doing this as I started at the beginning of May. Sometimes it takes sending yourself a love letter to show you are doing everything you should. 

How do you practice self-love? How do you practice pausing and reflecting? What is your form of self-care? 

References: 

Beatty, C. & Guthrie, K. (Eds). (2021). Operationalizing culturally relevant leadership learning. Information Age Publishing.  







Comments

  1. DaeunJune 26, 2023 at 9:05 PM

    Wow, it seems like Futureme was introduced to you just at the right timing. Thank you for sharing. I think using it in your leadership courses sounds like a brilliant idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. J.AllenJr.July 2, 2023 at 7:07 PM

      Thank you, Daeun! I think I will incorporate it into either my Black Male Leadership course I teach in the fall or Leadership and Change which I teach in the spring.

      Delete

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