By M. Shannon Hernandez
Devastation didn’t even begin to describe my pain and heartache.
About 9 years ago, at the age of 28, I found myself sitting in the office of a divorce attorney. Never in a million years had I thought that I would only be married for seven, be selling the home I built from the ground up and loved, and starting my life over again.
But one question kept replaying itself in my mind: How do I rebuild my life after such an unexpected event?
To make matters worse, I only I had $5.00 to my name. My ex-husband had a severe gambling addiction that had left us broke, emotionally and financially. I needed to take care of many obligations, and I also needed space to think, grieve, and dream again.
I turned to my journal to help me heal and cope. Everyday, I’d carry my little notebook with me, so I could write through my feelings and pain, but also have a place to record my successes and future plans. My journal, during this time of turmoil, became my greatest weapon.
I am happy to say that I did rebuild my life all those years ago, one journal entry at a time. And when it was time to reinvent my life again, just 2.5 years ago, I knew that my journal would be my secret weapon for doing so.
When Hurricane Sandy hit in October of 2012, I was granted an extra week off of work. At the time, I was a middle school teacher. I realized, despite the intense sadness around me, how happy I was to get a reprieve from the school system and all its foolishness. The seed had been planted in my mind that perhaps it was time for me to switch gears, and find a way out of my 15-year career as a teacher.
I pulled out my journal, and I wrote about it. I wrote about how unhappy I was with public education, the lack of freedom in the classroom, and the demise of the entire system. I wrote about how I felt like a robot—a robot who was just going through the motions of being a teacher. I wrote about how much I loved the students, when I could just shut the door and teach, but that unfortunately, that is sometimes the last thing seen as important in today’s educational system. I wrote about how every time I had to walk into that school building, I felt like I was a losing a little piece of my soul, being tested to the extreme and how I felt completely unappreciated.
But the most important thing that appeared on that page was this: I deserve to be happy again.
As I reread that statement, it lodged itself in my heart, and tears spilled down my cheeks. Before I knew what had happened, I was sitting in my Brooklyn apartment, sobbing, at the table. How had I not realized before now just how unhappy I was in my career? Did it take the destruction of a hurricane and a forced week off of work for me to realize that I deserved better and that life was too short to continue living it in such an unhappy state?
The following day, I took out my journal again. As I reread, more tears flowed. At first they were tears of despair, and a few minutes later, tears of relief. For, it was on this day that I realized I wasn’t trapped: I could reinvent my life and my career and create happiness so that I could begin living again.
And I did…in February of 2013, I launched my business, The Writing Whisperer (www.thewritingwhisperer.com), and began a new professional path—one that meant I was my own boss and could set my own schedule—and would never have to feel like a robot again. In June 2013, I turned in my resignation to the New York City Public Schools. And in August of 2014, I published my first memoir, Breaking the Silence: My Final Forty Days as a Public School Teacher. (www.myfinal40days.com)
Not only has journaling given me the chance to recreate my life, it continues to be a safe space where I work through things on own time and on my own terms. Journaling led to the writing of my memoir, which provides readers an intimate glimpse into my exit out of public education and my entrance into a life I now love and cherish so dearly.
About M. Shannon Hernandez:
M. Shannon Hernandez is the founder of The Writing Whisperer, and her mission is to help heart-centered entrepreneurs and heart-centered authors find their brand voices, share their unique stories, gain more visibility, establish themselves as experts, and create authentic marketing messages, all through the use of smart content strategy and engaging copywriting. The Writing Whisperer was named one of Top 100 Websites for Writers by The Write Life in both 2014 and 2015, and Shannon has been featured as a content strategy and copywriting expert on many prominent podcasts and websites. She is a leading voice in the world of authentic business writing and heart-centered education reform, and she writes regularly for The Huffington Post. Shannon’s memoir, Breaking the Silence, chronicles her exit out of public education, after 15 years, and provides readers an intimate view of her journey to business ownership, finding happiness, and reinvention.
About Breaking the Silence: My Final Forty Days as a Public School Teacher
America’s public school system is broken and M. Shannon Hernandez knows why, firsthand. After fifteen years in the teaching profession, three gut-wrenching realizations forced her to recognize that she must leave the career she loved so dearly. She knew that if she continued to work for a failing system, she would also continue to lose a little piece of her heart and soul every day.
You are invited into Hernandez’s classroom for the final forty days of her teaching career to understand the urgent need for school reform, clearly demonstrated in each story. You’ll witness the intelligence, vulnerability, and humanity of her students, and the challenges teachers like Hernandez face as they navigate the dangerous waters between advocating for and meeting students’ needs, and disconnected education policy.
This book is not only a love letter to her students, her fellow teachers, and to the reformed public school system she envisions, but also a heartfelt message of hope, encouragement, and self-empowerment for those who feel they are stuck in soul-sucking careers. It is an essential read for each citizen who is seeking a life comprised of more purpose and happiness, as well as parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers who know our nation’s education system is in desperate need of an overhaul.
Find Shannon online:
https://www.facebook.com/TheWritingWhisperer
https://twitter.com/writingwhisper
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/m-shannon-hernandez/61/98/731
https://www.pinterest.com/writingwhisper/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCahp5D25vJus2mn_9P7S59Q
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