A friend of mine recently reflected on a post she had seen on social media by speaker and researcher Brene Brown. The post was about how important it is to “cultivate rest and play” in our daily lives.

This is something I have struggled with myself, as a formerly proud workaholic. What I’ve learned, after reading and listening more of Brene Brown’s work, is that there is actually no power in wearing your exhaustion and productivity as a badge of honor. Instead it’s a recipe for burnout.

It didn’t take long for me to realize this is true for our students too. They need to experience rest – true restful rest – and enjoy downtime to just play, even if they are teens. They do not need to be worn out from too many commitments, whether its dance or school or other activities.

Now, at SDC, we are more cognizant of this need and have built in more breaks into our schedule for this purpose: to cultivate rest and play for our staff and our students. I hope we can continue to improve the way we balance hard work and time off, so that everyone can be their most fulfilled selves.

– Ms. Julie