Today was back to school day for many. I was not among them. For the sixth year in a row, I didn’t have to step inside a college classroom, meet new students, explain the syllabus to them, and all that jazz. And I think it’s important to take a few moments and bask in relief, gratitude, and pure undiluted joy. I loved my students, by the way, but I never loved the start of the new academic year. I did not love syllabi and other bureaucratic nightmares, did not love faculty meetings, the sense of doom and gloom one invariably encounters under stark neon lights in institutional buildings, and above all, I hated having a hefty dose of my time and energy spent on something that was neither art nor creative writing. I had a deep sense that I was wasting my one wild and precious life, so six years ago I quit my tenured professor job and went on to be a full-time artist and writer.
So, there were things I didn’t have to do today. Things such as drive to Beaumont (which is where my tenured job was, and let me tell you, that town was sucking the soul right out of me, and the commute, all 100 miles of perilous highway driving fueled by burritos from Buc-ees and audiobooks, was making me miserable and cranky), upload syllabi into some online portal that grew more annoying each year, and convince one room full of young people, then another, that their government class this semester would not be boring. (I always delivered on that promise, but at what cost?)
So, here’s what I did instead:
I walked a small elderly dog (mine!) and fed it.
I had two double espressos with milk.
I took a walk for exercise and enjoyment.
I wired a painting and hung it to replace one I recently sold.
I painted a small magpie.
I ate yummy leftovers for lunch and cleaned the kitchen a little.
I took the small elderly dog out several more times at approximately two hour intervals. Old lady dogs and their tiny bladders appreciate that.
I did some social media stuff and sent an email to my list. Are you on my email list? If not, how will you know what I said? It was pretty exciting!
I read a kindle book while lying on my bed and listened to an audiobook while doing stuff around the house.
I made yummy momofuko noodles for dinner. Of course, I added chili crunch.
I shared organic strawberries with my dog.
I painted the background of a wood panel for a commission I am working on and searched for good pictures of my subject.
(I exchanged emails and texts with helpful people about an important issue I will hopefully let y’all in on soon. Again, this one is exciting!)
I wrote this blog post.
I did not drive to Beaumont. In fact, I didn’t drive anywhere. I walked my 10,000 steps. I ate my fruits and veggies, drank water, and will probably go to bed early without feeling so exhausted after all the driving and lecturing that I can’t sleep.
I’d say, it was a day well spent, and tomorrow I get to wake up refreshed, not drive to Beaumont, and pretty much do whatever I want.
Here are pictures of stuff I’ve painted recently that I haven’t gotten around to posting yet. These are small pieces, 9×12, 8×8, and 6×6.
