Break Time

I have been trying to write this blog post all week, but the right words are hard to find. I am taking a break from posting until sometime in May. I want to capture the desire to honor my time and energy. It’s towards the end of the semester, and both resources are in short supply. Spring is also beginning in Austin. Highs for the next week will be in the 60s-70s. The trees are edging, ready to explode into green ecstasy at any moment. The sun warms my skin and melts the winter from my soul. The first warm winds of spring add wind to my sails, powering me forward to complete this message to you.

I started posting to this blog on November 22, 2020. My first two posts outlined the purpose of this site and explained the title to my readers. Since that date, I have published 139 blogs (including this one). I have shared memories and life experiences, conducted thought experiments, opened up about personal life choices, and posted photos of my cats.

I know what people really want to see: photos of my felines. Who am I to deny them?

Goldie enjoys his new perch.

Please don’t take my photo, Human.

Someone is very tired.

No, you can’t have this chair.

I feel drawn to write. Even though vlogs (video blogs) are king, this is the medium I am drawn to share. However, I also hit a wall recently. I have had little energy to write for the past month or two. It’s been hard for me to complete a blog post. My creative juices seem to dry up quickly. As I write this, I have 15 posts in various writing stages. I get an idea, run with it, and then hit a wall. I can’t seem to get past that wall now.

Part of this is because I am tired. As of this posting, 3 weeks of class are left until finals. I am running on fumes. I, once again, find myself in a state of soul tired. I think this is my cycle as an educator. I give so much to my students during the school year that I need to take time to recover in the summer. My passion demands a time of rest and refueling. I am also an over-giver by nature. I take on more than I should because I feel if I don’t do it, who will? I get a little better at taking on a little less “too much” with each passing year; however, I still find my cup overflowing with responsibilities in April and May. We all have cycles, and this is currently mine. When the semester is over, it’s time to rest and refuel.

I have worked to grow my writing skills in the past 2.5 years. Recently, I enrolled in two online classes through Gotham Writers, a workshop community designed to help writers improve their storytelling skills. One class is a 10-week workshop on essay and opinion writing. The other is a 2-day Zoom workshop on grammar in June. I am excited and a little nervous about starting these courses. While it seemed a great idea then, I wonder if my judgment was askew when I chose to start the 10-week class in the last four weeks of the spring semester. As a veteran teacher, I should know better than to take on anything new in the final weeks of a semester…and yet, here I am. This isn’t a graded class; however, I want to take full advantage of this opportunity to learn and develop this craft. That means something has to give for a while.

That something will be posting to this blog.

This will be my last post until later in May. After that, I need to focus on learning all I can in these classes. Once the semester is done and I have had a little time to unwind, I will resume posting weekly.

Thanks for reading. See you in late May.