Happy

For the first time since I can remember, I'm happy.

I feel it in the way I interact with other people, in my own dealings with myself, and in my general outlook on life.

Happy.

And this isn't the type of happy that I used to feel after reading a bunch of essays. That feeling, as I understand now, wasn't happiness, it was relief.

Relief to be done with another assignment for a few days before diving into another stretch of chaos.

My life feels simple but worthwhile.  I wake up, I do some sort of work, whether that be editing from home or subbing, and then when my shift ends, I'm done. I've started running, going to the gym, writing, and reading for fun again.

There are aspects of my new job(s) that I don't like, for instance, reading 200+ short answer test responses for my job as a rater, but I recognize that part of working is doing things you don't always like doing. For the most part, though, I love subbing. It's been great to work in different classrooms with different types of students. This week alone I've worked as a librarian for the day, in a history class,  and in a ceramics class.

A lot of the students at the high school know me now, and I get joy out of hearing them shout "Ms. Brooks" from across the quad as they go to their next class.

So yes, I'm happy, and it's a damn good feeling.