Intake/Outflow

I remember the semester I started student teaching, two dozen different people told me to be sure that I took care of myself.  When they said this, they meant to take time to do leisurely things - indulge, pamper, stay rested etc.  

I'm not very good at indulging monetarily, unless it is something huge like a special vacation or trip, then I throw caution to the wind....and stay in hostels.  I don't do therapy shopping, or drop into Starbucks for a pick-me-up mocha.  I'm not a spa person, though I did get a massage once and it was amazing.  Regular visits are not my thing, though.  

Once upon a time, I loved to read.  In that read-on-the-toilet-flashlight-in-bed-this-part-is-too-good-to-stop-at kind of way.  I still have a lot of affection for books, but I haven't read through a substantial novel or non-fiction text in a while.  Light reads here or there, but I don't consider myself a "reader" right now.

I feel that a good teacher is a creative teacher.  Someone who thinks outside the box and shares the world she's discovering with her students.  A creative teacher is one who takes the time to foster her own knowledge, grow spiritually and emotionally, and broadens her own horizons every day.  

I feel like I've hit a wall (the first day back to school!) where I don't have any more to share with my students.  True - they may be found in euphoric rapture when you create a paper snowflake out of a coffee filter, but sometimes it seems they know when I no longer have sought new thoughts, ideas or dreams out for myself.  Or maybe it is that my eagerness to share new things with them diminishes when I have not had a recent experience of discovery for myself.  Am I still making absolutely no sense?

I need to make some discoveries, use my brain for things besides planning, teaching, and budgeting.  I need to read, create, write, draw, converse, and play.  I will have nothing to give if I have nothing inside to give from.

What do you do to inspire yourself?