I think it's important that we dare to try something new. To try something uncomfortable. To challenge ourselves to live outside our comfort zones. Today was our first day of Summer Learning Academy. Certainly a new role for me, a bit scary and did create a bit of anxiety leading up to the first day. But this is how we learn as humans- to create circumstances for ouselves that allow us to grow and challenge existing perspectives and help us to expand ourselves in a different way or in a new directions. 

And despite the first day having a few hiccups, what I realized is most important about life events and leadership is this idea that stars will always fall. Or, certain stars that have planted  within our solar system of learning may fall from the sky quickly. And those falling stars are really just there to help us prove to ourselves just how full of grit we must be when a new star is presented to us. Sometimes we forget that in order for new stars to be planted in our solar system, other stars must make room for pre-existing stars. 

As I walked into Summer School bright and early this morning, I sensed that something was different. And I could not quite place it until I realized that the 75 stars I had painted and hung from the foyer of the building had either fallen or been taken down intentionally. They were lying on the benches in a huge bundle. My heart sunk a bit when I realized that someone had intentionally taken all the stars down after I left on Friday without telling me so they did not set off the buzzer. I understood the dilemma and the annoyance of the sensor, but I was a bit mad. Because at 6:50 in the morning, instead of running around making sure the first day was awesome for the kids, I could not ignore those stars (no matter how hard I tried.) So I got the ladder and began sprinting back and forth, back and forth to put them back up. Because when a star falls down, you can't quit. Here I wanted there to be a starry night to welcome the kids and if I let a little "take down" get in my way, what would our little scholars think? What message would I be sending? 

Every day there are stars we know that are taken down. Sometimes, the drops are intentional. Sometimes, the stars drop from the sky unintentionally. Sometimes they are the shooting kind and sometimes they are the kind that sink the ground wherever they land creating further crators. Whatever star falls down, get back on that ladder if it is worth fighting for, put your painted star, the one that represents your creation and your soul and your kindness towards the world and keep putting that star up until it stays up, shining its light on another. 

I may have started my day drenched in sweat. But it was worth it. Because sometimes our kids don't always see those stars like they need to see. And sometimes they don't even know they are a star. Build your starry night. Carry your ladder with you at all times. Work to build those stars back into the universe.