Hi guys,
Thank you for joining me today.
I hope you're doing well.
All is good at my end.
I created a voice track not that long ago,
And the voice track was called Talking Yourself to Sleep.
And in that voice track,
I described a process that I often use to help myself relax and fall asleep.
The example I used was a school,
A public school that I worked in when I was in high school and first year of college.
I knew this building intimately,
Having worked there for over three years.
It was also a place where I felt calm and relaxed.
So today in this session,
I'd like to lead you on a walkthrough of the school.
So if you're into something like that,
Great.
Stick around.
If it's not your thing,
All good.
Now's the time to tap out,
Knowing you might listen another time.
This school was built in the late 50s.
I'm not really sure the year,
But I think it was 57 or maybe 58.
So in your mind,
Picture that type of building.
It had that old school flair.
It didn't have the new school big windows,
Fancy facade.
It was a simplistic and practical building.
And as I said in the preview for the track,
This school always made me feel relaxed.
It was in many ways a home away from home.
By the time I arrived,
The majority of students and teachers had already left or were leaving.
Only a few students lingered,
Maybe for extracurricular activities,
And the teachers that remained were preparing for future lessons.
Remember this was a public school,
So it would empty and quiet by 5 or 5.
30 most days.
So the majority of the time I was there,
There were very few people beyond me and other support staff.
It was designed with high ceilings and wide hallways,
And every season lit it differently in those quiet moments.
When you arrived at the front door,
You were basically in the center of the school.
There was an annex running right and left,
With the main office just inside.
Inside the main entrance,
Which was just a single door,
There was a single large black rubber mat,
The kind we all know,
With strips of material to provide traction.
Underneath the mat was a trap,
With a steel grill inlaid.
These are old and typical of this vintage of building,
But we did not use them at this point in time.
The area inside the main entrance was a small vestibule or hallway that showcased the school office and linked hallways leading in opposite directions.
From the vestibule,
If you looked straight ahead,
You saw two double doors taking to the area behind the school,
Which was asphalt.
There was a 50 foot asphalt border against the back of the school,
And beyond the asphalt was grass,
And two baseball diamonds that adjoined a city park.
The vestibule was interesting,
As it did not provide a straight line to both wings of the school.
The hallways were offset,
Forcing all traffic to cross in front of the office,
Before heading in the opposite direction.
The office was the main focal point here,
And it had big windows.
You could see in and see the front counter where the office staff would greet students or parents,
And behind that was the principal and vice principal's office.
So guys,
If you're doing a walking meditation with me,
Let's try to be in that space.
Let's try to focus on the lighting.
Soft,
Ambient,
Golden light.
You're at the main door of the school,
And we're going to walk past the office and turn to the left,
And in this hallway,
On the right,
Are a group of shoulder height windows that run almost the entire length of the hall.
These windows show the park,
And let in light from the south and east.
Notice the interior of the hallway.
Notice the ceilings.
The ceilings were old school,
And seemed to be poured concrete,
But very smooth,
And the hallway was painted in a light canary yellow.
The walls were a smooth cinder block finish,
That you could run your hand across and feel the texture.
The windows I mentioned allowed in a lot of morning and afternoon light,
And I always found this hallway very bright.
The floor was terrazzo,
And it was a medium gray.
The terrazzo floor met the wall and turned up the wall about three or four inches to create a baseboard.
All the seams in the floor were steel.
This floor was uniform across the school,
And I always liked how easy it was to clean and buff.
It looked amazing when it was finished at the end of the night.
The first doorway on the left opened to a secondary hallway,
And in that hallway at each end there were staff washrooms,
A single washroom for ladies and men.
These washrooms had a classic look,
Very different from building techniques today.
Continuing down the hall,
Relaxing further,
The next door on the left,
Past the staff washrooms,
Was the staff room itself,
And if you walked into the staff room,
There was a cloakroom on the left for staff,
And to the right was a soda vending machine,
And beyond this was the staff room itself.
There was a full kitchen at one end,
With a few round tables to sit and eat at,
And beyond that was an area for teachers to relax.
There were couches and chairs and tables,
As you would expect.
There was one light blue leather couch that faced the windows to the street outside.
I remember my boss liked to sit there on his break,
With the lights off,
So he could watch the activity on the street without people looking in.
The staff room was beside the main entrance,
So from the staff room you could clearly see the comings and goings at the school.
Beside the staff room was a small long room that was used by teachers to provide extra help for individual students,
Or to meet with parents.
This room only had a teacher's desk midway,
With chairs,
A couple resource tables,
And some bookshelves.
Because this was a floater type space,
It didn't have the same vibe as the rest of the school.
It kind of stood alone,
In that sense.
At the end of this hallway,
Relaxing the breath even more,
There were three more rooms.
Past the windows on the right was the furnace and boiler room.
There was a huge boiler in there,
And because the school was heated with oil at this time,
The smell of fuel oil hit you as you entered.
I was only in there a few times,
As there was no need to be there.
Supplies were not kept there,
And it wasn't cleaned daily.
Across from the boiler room were the kindergarten rooms.
A common doorway opened for two classrooms,
And split off to the cubbies on either side for each class.
Though the classrooms were separate,
There was a door between them once inside,
And they shared a fenced-in playground.
I always liked these rooms,
And cleaned them often.
They were messy,
But the energy was great,
And both rooms faced west,
And had great afternoon and evening light.
The last room in this hallway,
As you turned the corner to the large part of the school,
Was the custodial room.
This was a small semi-mechanical room,
With a teacher's desk for the head custodian.
This is where we signed in,
And hung our coats,
And left other belongings while we worked.
I liked our little room,
But the truth is,
We didn't spend much time there.
So guys,
If you've made it this far,
You're probably interested,
And going to stay with me a bit longer.
If you're feeling tired,
Now would be a good time to let go of any resistance,
And allow sleep to come.
Know you are safe to rest,
Sinking even deeper into the bed,
Or whatever you're sitting or lying on.
Let rest wash over you,
Quickly and easily,
If you'd like to carry on with the exploration of the school.
Stay with me.
As we leave the custodial office,
We turn left,
We're at the end of this hallway,
And standing at a set of double doors that separate this area of the school from the next,
Stepping through the double doors.
We are in the largest wing of the school,
Housing the majority of the classrooms.
It's a two-story section,
And again,
Has that old school,
That old building vibe.
Directly to our left is a main doorway,
A double doorway,
Into the school library.
The school library is a wonderful place.
I always felt the energy was very nice and gentle and soft in there.
I didn't clean the library often,
Because this area of the school,
The main floor in this wing,
Was the full-time night custodian's job.
Every time I walked by the library,
Or was in the library,
I felt calm and relaxed.
Let that relaxation wash over you now.
There was a large elevated area at the back,
Near the main entrance.
It was used by the librarian to read from and many other things.
Directly to our right is one of the two staircases going up to the second floor.
It is a wide staircase,
With the same terrazzo steps as the floors throughout the school.
It had a strong and sturdy steel railing that was painted a warm,
Light brown color,
Which flowed well with the yellow walls.
All the trim and door frames in the school were this brown color.
The handrail portion of the railing was bright chrome.
I don't know how many times I cleaned those stairs and walked up and down,
But it was a lot.
My section,
For the majority of the time I worked here,
Was the second floor of this wing that included this staircase,
And the one at the far end of the wing.
As we continue through the main floor,
Sense the light.
All the classroom doors are open,
Letting lots of light spill into the hall.
On the right side of the hall,
There are four classrooms,
With a girls washroom at this end of the hall,
And a boys washroom at the far end.
The washrooms were very old school.
The floors joined the wall,
And the terrazzo floor ran up the walls on all sides.
Every washroom in the school had some form of opaque window that let natural light in,
Which was very nice to be honest,
And in both the boys and girls washroom in this wing of the school was a round terrazzo hand washing basin.
A soap dispenser was mounted above the water jets,
And to rinse your hands,
You stepped on the pedal to start the water flow.
They sure don't make sinks like this anymore.
I hope you are enjoying the journey through the school,
And if you are feeling relaxed,
Let go even more,
And if you wish,
Drop off to sleep.
On the left side of the hallway,
There's the library,
Which takes up two full classrooms,
So there's fewer classrooms on the left side of the hallway,
On the main floor,
Than there would be upstairs.
Upstairs,
There are six on the left,
Four on the right,
With the two washrooms,
So ten classrooms in total.
On this floor,
There are four on one side,
Two washrooms,
And four on the other side,
Not including the library.
As we walk down the hall,
We notice the ambient light from the staircase at the far end of the hall,
And when we reach the end of the hallway,
We see this staircase,
And it is just like the one I described at the other end of this wing,
And there's so much light coming in.
Feel that light on you as you think about where we are standing.
On the main floor are double doors with the typical push bars to open,
With large floor to ceiling windows on either side.
The school grounds and city park are right outside.
The stairs are divided into two sections with a landing.
The first section is a bit steeper,
With a few more steps.
The landing is broad and wide,
And just above it is a large picture window,
I would say just above head height for most people,
Which allows in a lot of natural light.
The second riser of stairs is about half as many as the first,
And they take you to the second floor.
The second floor was my domain.
This was my section to clean for the majority of the two and a half years that I worked at this school,
And as I've already mentioned,
There were ten classrooms and two washrooms.
I was also responsible for the hall and the staircases at either end,
And for the most part,
It was a lot of fun.
There were very few days that I came in,
Looked at this hallway,
Opened the custodial closet for my cart and supplies,
And didn't want to be there.
There were always three or four teachers out of the ten that would linger,
A few students,
And I knew those teachers better than the ones who left right on time.
They were always happy to see me and hear what was going on in my life,
And I was always interested in the plans they had for their students.
And then there were the solitary times upstairs after everyone but me had left,
And what I really liked about the second floor was the four rooms that faced the park.
I had a small radio on my cart,
Which I played every day.
I especially enjoyed the spring and early summer,
Listening to a song on the radio and watching what was happening in the park.
All of my classrooms were the same design.
They had old school chalkboards at the front with one on the side.
Two-thirds of the room was a low pile carpet,
And the back portion of the room where the sink and door to the hall was,
Was an old linoleum tile square pieces,
And along the window to about waist height was the old heater setup with the molded steel grill that I would wipe down daily,
And there was never a shortage of heat in the school.
The boiler system worked really well.
Windows took up the remainder of the exterior wall with panels that slid up and down.
Looking back now,
I don't recall a single day that the school was too hot in June,
So it kept out the heat in summer.
On the ceilings were three rows of hanging lights,
The old school type that you don't see anymore.
They were long sections of fluorescent tubes with egg crate pattern in front of the bulbs.
I still remember that feeling of satisfaction locking my custodial room and using the key to turn out the lights at the end of my shift.
If you are still walking along with me,
I bet you are enjoying this tour.
I am too,
And if you're feeling relaxed,
Don't hold on.
Let rest come.
You can finish the tour another night.
Now,
As we leave the second floor and come back down the stairs at the end of the hall closest to the library,
Closest to the double doors that led us back into the hall with the custodial room where the kindergarten rooms are and where the teacher's staff room is,
And we'll walk back toward the office.
And at the office,
We'll take a look in.
There isn't really that much to see in the office.
There is a counter and a couple of desks behind the counter.
There is seating for people who would come for an appointment,
And two offices,
One for the principal,
One for the vice principal,
And I cleaned that office many times.
If someone was sick,
We all pitched in to ensure a basic cleaning got done,
So I knew this building top to bottom.
Both offices within the school office had windows that offered a view of the park and property behind the school.
When you are in and out of these spaces like I was,
You see who is messy and who is not,
And Alice,
The main secretary for the office in those days,
Was not messy,
But always smiled knowing I might find someone less particular.
Now as we stand in front of the office,
We're back in that vestibule that houses the main entrance to the school that has the big trophy case up on the wall.
Let's stand here for a minute.
We're looking at the office directly.
To our left are double doors going out to the park and the school grounds behind the school,
And in the morning there was always a lot of sunlight coming in and landing right where we are standing.
Feel the sunshine,
The golden rays,
And the heat from the sun.
If we look to our right,
We look out the main entrance to the school and the parking lot and street beyond.
In the afternoon and late evening,
There was always a beautiful low sun tipping its hat and shining light here,
And into the front corner of the office.
Just stand here and take in that beautiful sunlight.
Feel the low sun smiling upon you.
Are you relaxing?
Maybe ready for a nap?
Good.
Allow yourself to drift off.
If you are still listening,
Let's walk toward the main entrance and pass the office and turn to the left and open the double doors right in front of us.
This hallway is not long,
Maybe 50 or 60 feet in length.
There are only three classrooms,
A nurse's office,
Two washrooms before we connect to the gymnasium.
As we walk down the hall,
There are no windows to the left.
This would be the office behind this wall,
And on the right we are walking toward the door to the first classroom.
By the time we get to the first classroom on the right,
We've stepped into a larger area.
Behind the office is an open area,
Almost like a foyer,
But without any entrance.
Here there is a back door to the office.
Beside this are a girls' and boys' washroom.
Across the hall from the washrooms are two classrooms and the nurse's office,
With a third classroom further down on the same side as the washrooms.
This is a compact area,
And one that I always found easy to clean.
The washrooms were smaller than in other areas,
And the nurse's office was never dirty.
The classrooms here were very similar to the rest of the school,
But always seemed different.
I'm not sure quite why.
The nurse's office was really big and had its own washroom.
It faced the street like the main entrance,
Had a big tree outside the window.
There was a single bed for anyone needing to rest.
And yes,
If you're wondering,
I did lay down on the bed a few times,
Not to sleep,
But just because it was there.
I'm sure a lot of people laid on that bed too over the years,
And some for no real reason,
Except that it was there,
Staring up,
Saying,
I bet you can't resist me.
If you feel like a rest,
Now would be a perfect time to have a nap.
Go on,
I bet you can't resist either.
From the area that has the three classrooms,
The washrooms,
And the nurse's office,
There's just one part of the school left.
And as we walk further down the hall,
Past the last two classrooms,
We get to a very solid set of double doors.
These doors block anyone who's rented the gym from entering the school,
And when we push those open,
We're in the foyer for the gymnasium.
It's a small foyer that backs out onto the playground and the park,
And if we walk straight ahead and turn to the right,
We walk into the gymnasium.
Straight ahead takes you up five or six stairs to the back of the stage.
From this small foyer or staging area,
There is also a door to a small kitchen that has a roll-up window for access to the gym.
The kitchen was always locked unless a staff member or the head custodian asked for it to be open.
As we step into the gym,
The first thing we notice is the light that fills the gym.
There's so much natural light that comes in because the entire south-facing wall are those small square glass tiles.
Not quite sure how to describe them,
But they're about a foot square,
And they're about four or five inches deep,
And they look like glass blocks put together like bricks with mortar.
From just inside the gym door,
You could see everything.
To the left was a stage with curtains.
Often you would find hockey nets or gym mats stacked off to the side.
There were doors across the front of the stage.
All the doors opened and chair racks came out,
And there were,
I'm guessing,
200 chairs in there,
And it was a big job to set them up or put them away.
Every now and then we'd get a request to set the chairs up.
I'd say this happened every couple of weeks.
When we had to put them away,
We'd have a race to see who could fill a rack and get it back under the stage quickest.
Beyond the stage was a large utility room for all the gym equipment,
Then the wall of window tiles.
If I recall,
There were a few broken tiles,
But only on the outside-facing panes.
I can't remember if there was a pattern to the glass,
But I think there might have been something random going on.
Looking to the right is the big window cut out with a built-in counter for serving from the kitchen.
This was always closed.
It had one of those steel roll-down windows.
On the wall opposite the stage was apparatus.
Some apparatus were pulled out from the wall on wheels.
Basically old-fashioned climbers.
There were ropes that went up to the ceiling.
None of this exists in schools anymore.
The floor was beautiful,
Wooden strips,
And finely finished.
It had all the markings on it for the team sports and post hole markings for the different nets,
Like volleyball.
There were basketball hoops,
And if I'm recalling correctly,
Two courts set up to go east to west,
And a main court to go from the stage to the back wall,
Where hoops lifted to the ceiling when not in use.
And if you walked to the far end of the gym,
From the back foyer,
There was a front foyer.
This was the area the public would enter from if there was a school presentation or a rental.
The front area had an entrance and hallway,
A coat check,
A place for boots,
Along with two washrooms,
Men's and women's.
So guys,
There you have it.
We've walked through all the different areas of the school.
I can honestly tell you,
This was fun for me.
I worked in this school every day except for the summer break,
July and August,
For almost three years,
And had a lot of different responsibilities.
I was even asked to close the school on several occasions,
And I was probably in grade 10 the first time.
There's lots more stories regarding this school that could be told,
But I think the important thing is,
If you're trying to fall asleep,
This might be a good way to help get there,
By telling yourself a story to gently drift off to sleep.
Thanks for joining me guys.
Let me know in the comments how you like journeys or meditations like this,
And if you guys like them,
I'll do more.
Take care.
