Upwrite

The pace of life has really picked up over the last few weeks.  Well, I’m not sure if it really has or if it’s in my mind.  Either way, it feels like I suddenly have a lot to do.  I welcome it though.  I need to get accustomed to being busy again before I head off to school.

I’ve been picking up the pace with my school-related reading.  August will be here before I know it, and I want to be ready. I hope to get through all my teaching books by the end of June, and then use the rest of the summer to review, digest, and cement the material in my mind.  I’m hoping this will be a good strategy?  The other day I dug out a composition book from my closet.  My counselor had given it to me in college.  I ended up not using it very much (I forget now what I was even supposed to use it for).  But I’ve decided to use it as an idea book of sorts.  So I’ve been scribbling down ideas for things I want to do with my classes–activities, examples, assignment ideas, teaching techniques, etc.  I figured it would be best to brainstorm now while my mind is not loaded down with information from my own classes.  I’m enjoying the brainstorming, and I hope it will pay off later.  I’ve been praying more lately about this whole endeavor.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last year, it’s that I need God’s help.  And I know I will need God to help me embrace all these new challenges and succeed.

On the more personal side…I think I’m very close to finishing up the manuscript for my chapbook.  I decided to change the title of the collection, which  means I also need to change the Preface and the order of the poems in the book.  This isn’t as easy as I thought it would be (well, it probably is, but I’m neurotic about stuff like this).  The collection doesn’t yet seem cohesive though, so I’ll keep pushing for that thread that ties it all together.  Until I find that thread, I don’t think I’ll really be done.  Also, I was recently invited by a friend (who is an artist) in New York to collaborate on a project.  That project is in the very early stages, but I’m excited nonetheless.  On a side note…this past week, two strangers, on two different occasions, randomly asked me if I write poetry.  Bizarre!  Do I look like I write poetry or something?? I don’t know. But I took it as two winks from God and a little motivation to keep pushing ahead with the stuff I’m doing.

Well, this coming weekend I’m flying up to Wisconsin for a friend’s wedding.  I’m quite excited.  She is the first from among my core group of college friends to tie the knot!  I’m excited to be there and watch it all go down.  And I hope to see some old friends while I’m up there.  I expect a lively and fabulous weekend!

As days get busier, I’m finding it even more vital to put life on pause at some point during the day.  And during the stillness of the pause, to offer up thanks and praise to God and to deliberately grab hold of God to make it through each day.

“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8 )