Outback teachers we hear you.
You’ve just moved hours away from your home town… to an outback community.
You swallowed up warm feeling of adventure that made your heart pump with excitement, the way your eyes lit up and soaked up all the new. You have been in your new community for a little while now. Surrounded by new people, new language, new culture, new ways of being. Great people, language, culture, ways of being… but not yours. Maybe something exciting or sad happened back home. Now you feel a bit empty and alone.
It’s okay to feel home sick.
All your feelings are normal.
Here are some hints and tips to help you overcome those big feelings:
- Call home
- Schedule future video calls with family and friends so you can stay in the loop and have these to look forward to.
- Send your family and friends an ‘old school’ letter or package.
- Ask you family or friends to send you a ‘care package’ with your favourite foods or items that you can’t get up in your remote school.
- Set yourself small goals that will help break up your term and the time before you see family/friends next such as calls, video dinners, adventures with your new friends
- We challenge you to ‘sit in’ the feeling for a moment. Think about where they show up in your body- is it a aching feeling in your tummy, your heart feels sore, your body tired? Practice some self love by having a bath, doing some stretches, taking a walk.
- Reach out- to your new friends, to your old friends, to a counsellor or psychologist.
We know what it feels like. We hear people discussing it in our free Facebook Group. Know that you are not alone. We cover this topic further in some of our courses and the Thrive Membership- see them here.
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