The older I get, the more sentimental I become. I’ve always had a touch of it, but time has a way of deepening emotions and sharpening memories. I love Christmas, and I often tell Heather how happily sad I feel when we wake up on December 26th. The celebration has passed, the house is quieter, and the season officially closes. Still, life moves forward, and that particular Christmas becomes a memory, one we carry with us into the next days.

This past weekend, January 4, 2026, The Family Circus comic, created by Bil Keane and now drawn by his son, Jeff Keane, offered, I believe, a quiet but powerful reminder about perspective that feels especially relevant for educators as we begin a new year.

In the comic, Bil, the father, drags a discarded Christmas tree to the curb. The needles are falling, the task is inconvenient, and the season is clearly over. But the perspective that matters most is not Bil’s, it belongs to the tree. Floating above the scene are the tree’s memories: being chosen by the family, decorated with care, surrounded by laughter, and standing proudly as the centerpiece of shared joy. From the tree’s point of view, its purpose was fulfilled. It mattered. It brought people together.

To view the comic strip, click here: https://comicskingdom.com/family-circus/2026-01-04

The same object, the tree, represents both burden and beauty, depending entirely on perspective.

As educators step into a new year, we often carry a similar mix of hope, exhaustion, and resolve. New initiatives, new students, new expectations, and all the old that carries over, arrive again, all at once. In the middle of that swirl, leadership can feel like carrying something heavy, important, but awkward, tiring, and often unseen by others.

Educational leadership is much the same.

By January, many school leaders are focused on what feels like the “tree at the curb” moment… budget constraints, staffing shortages, test data, compliance tasks, initiatives that didn’t go as planned, and teachers taking days off and subs (or no subs) are in the building. These realities are real, and ignoring them helps no one. But leadership grounded only in problems can unintentionally crush the spirit, our own and that of the people we serve.

Perspective does not deny difficulty; it reframes it.

For educators, perspective means remembering that today’s challenges are often the byproduct of earlier successes. A growing program brings complexity. High expectations signal trust. Accountability exists because what happens in schools matters deeply. When leaders help their teams reconnect daily work to its deeper purpose… student growth, belonging, and opportunity, the weight feels different. The same task, seen through a different lens, becomes meaningful rather than merely exhausting.

Perspective is also a leadership responsibility. Teachers and staff often take cues from how leaders interpret reality. When leaders consistently highlight only what is broken, people shrink. When leaders balance honesty with hope, naming challenges while also lifting up moments of impact, people lean in. They remember why they chose this profession in the first place.

As the new year begins, effective leaders might ask themselves a few grounding questions:

• What am I carrying that feels heavy right now, and what meaning is attached to it?
• What moments of success or connection am I overlooking because I’m focused on what’s next?
• How can I help others see the story behind the work, not just the work itself?

The Family Circus comic reminds us that perspective is often invisible unless we choose to notice it. If the tree could think (and we read that it is), it wouldn’t see itself as discarded, it would remember the joy it helped create. Educators, too, may feel worn down at this point in the year. Yet memories can be made in our buildings every day… the learning, the laughter, the growth, are reasons the work educators do matters, and those small victories can lead to big wins.

As we step into a new year, may we lead with eyes wide enough to see both the burden and the beauty, and help others see it too.

¹ Keane, J. (2026, January 4). The Family Circus [Cartoon]. Comics Kingdom. https://comicskingdom.com/family-circus/2026-01-04 

As you step into your role today, remember that you are not just an educator and leader but a shaper of the future. Your actions and decisions profoundly impact the lives of those you guide. Go, be the great educator and leader that our future needs.

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2026 J Clay Norton

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