|
Sabbatical is a gift that I didn't realize I needed as badly as I did until it began. For more reasons than I'll share here, I have not treated myself very well during the last five years and the two tenure track positions I've worked throughout that time. Too much caffeine. Too few balanced meals. Too little sleep. Way too little physical exercise - or movement for that matter. You'd think that condition of anemia that I've always struggled with would have made me recognize how bad I was being to myself but it didn't. I did all the things that leave you weak and exhausted.
The last month has been good, though. I visited one of my best friends in California and got to see the Bay. It is as beautiful as West Coasters proclaim. I bought a bike and started cycling. Just yesterday afternoon I took one of those late summer rides that makes Upstate so nice. Seriously, it was 70 degrees, sunny, and breezy. Recently, I discovered the fascinating writings of Marlon James through Audible. His first book John Crow's Devil about the residents of a small Jamaican town overtaken by a charismatic and violent new preacher was a gratifying read for me since it's basically about discernment. I'm on his second book now entitled The Book of Night Women. Written entirely in the vernacular, the book describes a slave revolt through the eyes of an independent woman named Lillith who largely rejects what slavery is supposed to mean for her. As I've said before, the audible experience amplifies characterization so much. Hearing the spoken rationale that some slave owners used to justify oppression is just... Just read it. I highly recommend it. This past weekend I returned from a brief visit with my parents. While I was there, my mom and dad migrated to new smart phones (and I use migrated intentionally because it was quite a leap from their previous phones). As a Mac-evangelist, I had to get up on my Android game fast since neither would consider an iphone. It tickled me to see them doing so much with their phones and it was the coolest thing to get a 7 am text from my daddy that said "Good Morning" today. I am still a daddy's girl. And of course, I'm in the studio working on new stuff. Hah... You know that. For now though, I'm just grateful for this slow jam on the playlist of my life and career.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Shouts, Blogs, and SnapsThis mash-up page contains some of my favorite posts from my blogging days over at "I Have Spoken" (IHS) on blogspot, and my "Begin Again" blog on Wordpress. There's also some shout outs, and snapshots here. To show history, I've kept some of the original dates from my blogposts although I did not carry over the original comments. Archives
August 2025
Categories
All
|