29 June 2023: "But the past few weeks have reminded me of two other lessons we don’t often hear: first, that we can count on curveballs more than we can depend on plans, and second, that joy, not just a sense of duty or obligation, serves us well and keeps us writing." --Mary Anne Lewis Cusato, in this great Inside HigherEd piece
It arrives in my inbox on a day when:
a) I opened the link to the piece and finally read it...5 hours later,
b) I've been more or less working all day,
c) That work has included some work on my book, but also (time-consuming) odds and ends as I close out my assistant dean role,
d) I am also realizing how hard it will be for me to accomplish my typed-out-and-printed "Weekly Book Goals" list,
e) I feel very tempted to say "so what? I got other stuff done and that's okay,"
f) and I feel early guilt about doing that.
So Cusato's reminder about joy's role in writing is a welcome one. Right now--with everything I have to do this afternoon and tonight in preparation for a weekend away--this week's goals might not happen. But whatever I do get done--whenever I get it done--will have a closer connection to that joy if I just relax, at least right now.
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