Hey everyone - Adam here!
Life has been getting busier.
To start 2023, I have set the intention of tending to what I like to call IRL EXPOSURE THERAPY. What does this mean?
IRL EXPOSURE THERAPY - is something I define as being present and embedded in more social situations in real life (IRL). I see IRL EXPOSURE THERAPY as breaking out of the digital shell I have been encumbered in the past two-three years.
Ever since the initial outbreak of COVID, (as many of us did) I spent a large amount of time entrenched in daily contemplation (mostly online).
While contemplating, I spent time thinking of the things I’d like to accomplish creatively.. what I’d like to really develop an expertise on, as well as the pathways in which I aspire to guide my life towards.
While contemplation at particular times is a necessity, it is not necessarily an everyday required state. Some times the best thing to do is act, whereas other times the best thing to do is to contemplate before we act.
With all this being said: I am gaining the recognition that since the start of this newsletter, a vast amount of these newsletters (Newsletter #97 - for those counting..) have been spent articulating my life theories.
IRL EXPOSURE THERAPY is taking action towards the theories in which I’ve articulated more fully into practice and bringing them to the real world. Away from the veneer of strictly being online, and instead doing more and accepting more responsibility in the physical world. Rather than solely online.. just as I did during the time of COVID.
EXAMPLES OF IRL EXPOSURE THERAPY
I am currently working as a Teacher - just as I was up until the world was placed on pause with COVID.. This time I’ve been lucky enough to land a short-term role with one school district for a 2-3 month duration as a PE/Health Teacher for both Middle School and High School.
This teaching assignment has re-instantiated my overarching interest in the study of Psychology, the one true calling I have felt dating back to my days of undergrad.
I have also felt the tremendous joy of practicing what I have “preached” on this newsletter the last two years, as I seek spread the love of exercising (or at least aspire to) with my students.
Being physically present and embodied with upwards of 200+ students a day gives me a chance to more actively combine what I have spent so much time online preaching, and yet also establishes the comfort yet again of embracing new and novel situations in-person.
One thing I’ll have to admit is that after the culmination of COVID and slowly as the world began to reopen again.. I was quite surprised by my tendency to feel socially fatigued. Socially fatigued… even after doing something as simple as going to a show or getting off a call with a friend or colleague.
Needless to say, I feel like teaching is allowing me to develop a social tolerance yet again as I’m finding myself really enjoying the presence of myself with others again.
By building up the social tolerance of being a leader everyday - it’s allowing me to more comfortably acclimate myself to time engaged socially. I’m realizing how much I treasure the time with friends of new and old, and how I want to be more active in creating more social opportunities.
It’s nice to be held accountable on a daily repetition - as I feel like it’s driving me to become a better man than I was the day before. Another motivating factor is the development of what feels like a mentorship with many students, I enjoy being someone that students can look up to.
Also - it’s been a really interesting opportunity to share my love of Electronic Music with the kids. One of the perks of the job is I typically have access to the bluetooth speakers that are located in the school gym. As you probably could have guessed, I have most definitely been sharing groovy tunes of all sorts with the kids (my music included).
I have found it quite inspiring how awe-struck a good portion of them are to the music I am showing them. Yet, I am also humbled by the experience of how some students could care less about the music I play or my love of reading for example.
PARTING NOTE
Embrace the challenge of putting yourself in situations where you are held more accountable and looked to as a leader. Carry this momentum forward and apply this sense of leadership to the rest of your life..
Undergo IRL EXPOSURE THERAPY, if you are itching to become a leader. No longer solely online, and instead step up in-person too. It doesn’t mean you can’t continue growing a digital community, it just means that your character will be tested more in-person.
I’ll leave you with one quote that I wrote down in one of my daily morning pages… I’ll be curious to hear what you think of it.
“A life in education is an education in life.”
Cheers to lifelong learning,
Adam - BARTYDARTY