Christina HendricksNov 29, 2016
And I sat there and weighed whether to say anything about how the problem is deep, systemic even, and making us feel better and handle stress is good but ultimately doesn't get to why we're stressed in the first place. Decided to keep quiet b/c (a) I'm already seen as the negative element in the group, & (b) I had no solutions to offer. Left feeling more stressed than was when walked in.
Show threadBonnie StewartNov 29, 2016

@clhendricksbc i spoke about this last year in a wellness meeting on campus where focus was all on faculty & students & i was the precarious staff/sessional sitting there & finally i explained, folks, i don't even have the health coverage for the solutions you're proposing, let alone time. can we look at this systemically?

even among those who claim to love critical analysis, critical analysis when they want to feel warm & fuzzy isn't always welcome. :/

Show threadKate

@bonstewart @clhendricksbc Oh yes, my goodness. This is a source of so much stress in higher education everywhere: the rise and rise of performative wellness. If only we did more yoga, used more tracking software, didn't waste time. As if there is a single minute of surplus time to be wasted that isn't already committed to bone-shuddering fatigue.

And the troping of critical as negative is such an effective way of silencing dissent, or even enquiry.

Nov 29, 2016 at 3:22amWeb
Show threadChristina HendricksNov 29, 2016

@katebowles @bonstewart It bugs me that the answer to work-life balance is often: do something to make yourself feel better about the shitty work life balance you have! If you just relax more in yoga & do meditation you can better get through your insane days & nights of work!

Sorry--I'm really ranting now. And in fact, I do do yoga & mindfulness things and find them really great. But it's not the heart of the issue.

Show threadBritni Brown O'DonnellNov 29, 2016
@clhendricksbc @katebowles @bonstewart It astounds me that, at least at my institution, as I student I can visit counseling services and get *free* counseling and visits with a psychiatrists, but if I were to be staff and no longer a full time student that is no longer available. I feel like all student health services -especially mental health services- should be available to staff as well.
Doesn't address *time* issue but does speak to the systematic ignoring of [employee] mental health
Show threadTanya **moved**Nov 29, 2016

@bmbod @katebowles @bonstewart @clhendricksbc

Because I'm a ray of sunshine today... Sharing my rant to the pile:

My benefits for my son's counselling are $15/ session (net cost $120/ hr). Prozac? Fully covered.

Depressed? Anxious? There's a med for that :(

Show threadChristina HendricksNov 29, 2016
@Tdorey @bmbod @katebowles @bonstewart God that's just a mess. Really? What a mess. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case here too, though I haven't looked into it (son is 9 & at this point doing okay).
Show threadBonnie StewartNov 29, 2016
@Tdorey @bmbod @katebowles @clhendricksbc that is really telling, isn't? take a med, folks!
Show threadChristina HendricksNov 29, 2016
@bmbod @katebowles @bonstewart we are lucky here in that we have some mental health benefits, but when I used that service in the last I wasn't terribly happy. And the benefits are pretty limited.
Show threadChuck PearsonNov 29, 2016

@clhendricksbc, you are not alone.

I mean, I got NOTHIN' else. But you are not alone.

(gettin' my coffee and goin' back to the salt mines) @katebowles @bonstewart

Show threadKateNov 29, 2016
@ShorterPearson @bonstewart @clhendricksbc From our house to yours: https://youtu.be/Ofrqm6-LCqs
Show threadChuck PearsonNov 29, 2016

Gah, @katebowles, you just shared THAT. One day we're going to talk about shared love for Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil. That song, "Blue Sky Mine", has been at the heart of every playlist for mumblety-mumble years.

Again: thanks to all of you - @bonstewart and @clhendricksbc and @lauraritchie - for sharing your heart with your words. So grateful for the reassurance, if only that the frustration is shared.

Show threadKateNov 29, 2016
@ShorterPearson @lauraritchie @bonstewart @clhendricksbc Australia just went through a big national singalong with the return of Crowded House, and now everyone's dusting off their Oils CDs, their Hunters & Collectors, their playlists for howling at the sky.
Show threadChuck PearsonNov 29, 2016

@katebowles @lauraritchie @bonstewart @clhendricksbc Crowded House AND Midnight Oil AND Hunters and Collectors.

My word, we can talk about music.

Show threadKateNov 29, 2016
@ShorterPearson @lauraritchie @bonstewart @clhendricksbc Head to Twitter and check #crowdedhouselive. It really was a beautiful live event, and (considering other conversations here @actualham) huge on Twitter.
Show threadLaura Ritchie 🌸Nov 29, 2016
@ShorterPearson @katebowles @bonstewart @clhendricksbc assessing here... and one student has just plugged in her electric violin :D
Wish I could stay and talk about music!!
catch you all later! x
Show threadFredrik Graver 🎥🥌Nov 29, 2016

@ShorterPearson @katebowles @lauraritchie @bonstewart @clhendricksbc Love the serendipity of this place... Reading this just as Beds are Burning is playing on Radio Paradise...

Saw them live in unusual circumstances: we were about 500+ protestors blocking logging access to old growth forest in Clayquot Sound, BC in '93. The Oil played 10 songs for us and hung out at the camp for a while after.

Show threadChristina HendricksNov 30, 2016
@katebowles @ShorterPearson @bonstewart I lived in Australia for a year on sabbatical (2012-2013, in Melbourne), and this makes me so homesick for the place that was temporarily my home.
Show threadChristina HendricksNov 30, 2016
@ShorterPearson @katebowles @bonstewart I was so busy last night & today I'm just getting to this now. Thank you, Chuck. I briefly saw your own message about being too busy to think, & I was too busy to reply at that moment. I hope it slows down a bit soon for you.