Why wait till January? The new school year is a chance to press reset

Browning grass. Hazy sky. Swarming mosquitoes. Life-rending heat. August in North Texas is not pretty. Nevertheless, in the reliable dawn of a new year, there are many beautiful things to embrace – a new school year.

Even if you are not a student, parent or educator, you will find joy in a new semester because August is a reset button.

Lazy days are replaced by weeks with meaning. Perhaps you made some resolutions in January that worsened before February. Now is a good time to try again. Or maybe you’re just a fan of school supplies. There’s no better time to stock up on pens, pencils, and highlighters.

A new school year also provides a reminder of some basic lessons, regardless of age and stage of life.

Alternate

I recently saw this in action at our neighborhood grocery store which appears to be chronically understaffed and understaffed. The queues for self-checkout and cash registers extend into the aisles. Last weekend the buyer left his shopping cart before me to pick up a few more items. I nodded to him, the universal symbol for “I’ll take care of your cart and protect your place in line.” No guard was required, however. We have adjusted to overwhelmed retailers and service companies, maybe just grateful for toilet paper and Clorox wipes, no matter how long it takes to buy.

Be friendly

Is someone wearing a mask and you’re not? Be friendly. Does anyone disagree with your opinion on health care, racial relations, voting rights? Be friendly. We can disagree and be considerate at the same time.

Those of us lucky enough to survive the pandemic often did so by relying on kindnesses. Think of all the neighbors and friends who ran errands for the immunocompromised, the health workers who stood in for loved ones who couldn’t enter hospital rooms, the ordinary people who sewed and donated masks before the market caught up.

However, as our patience wanes, we find it difficult to be kind – to people who wear masks when masks are optional, or who don’t wear masks when we want to, or to people who have different opinions about vaccines.

My mind has rarely been changed by someone yelling at me or capitalizing on me, but at least I’ll listen to someone who communicates with courtesy or even kindness.

share

This is one of my favorites, both as a giver and as a recipient.

When my mother-in-law bakes cookies, she always shares, and cookies always make us happy. When my neighbor and best friend Julie tries a new recipe, she shares the results.

I enjoy sharing books with other bibliophiles and sharing affirmative words with friends, colleagues, and students. A new school year is a reminder to me to share resources with families who struggle to make ends meet during a normal month, let alone the expensive back-to-school hours.

Exercise patience

We’ve had many opportunities to be patient – waiting for stores to get inventory, waiting for test results, waiting for vaccines, waiting to travel and see loved ones and celebrate milestones. I have prayed several times than I can count that my patience will be replenished.

I remember that science is a process, that results change when variables change, and that hypotheses are not always correct – as any science fair project veteran can attest. It has taken us patience to adapt to changing guidelines (don’t wear a mask, wear a mask, don’t wear a mask, maybe wear a mask). However, I prefer to be patient rather than dismissive as I thank the scientists who continue to research and experiment to save lives.

While August is nothing refreshing outside, there is a lot of work inside that we can do. While the pandemic continues and spirits are simmering, we don’t wait until January 2022 to refresh our spirits. August is as good as anyone.

Tyra Damm is a briefing columnist. She can be reached at tyradamm@gmail.com.

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