June 4, 2022

Something I thought about:

• It’s been a bit of a rough week — I got sick while solo parenting and during the final week of class. I’m also dealing with a bit of burnout. I realized that I’ve been pushing from one deadline to the next and let go of all of the good and helpful habits that I’d developed (things like going to bed on time and taking breaks during the day), and I’d hit my breaking point with the constant, frenzied pushing. My body simply gave out. So. I had to refocus on those good habits and get back to a place where I can work steadily and consistently rather than trying to do all of the things all at once.

Something I did:

• It’s been a busy week! I wrapped up courses for the semester, which, as always, was bittersweet.
• I wrote a talk that is a mix of personal essay and academic paper. We’ll see how it goes…
• Solo parented for the week.

Something I read:

• Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke, Rainer Maria (The last time I read this was probably 15 years ago!)
• “Accepting Your Limitations: You're Not a Machine” by Sara Zarr — this arrived right when I needed it.
• I love this definition of “teachers” from George Saunders’ newsletter. He describes them as people

whose vocation is to pay positive, hopeful attention and thus make those students better, stronger people in the world.