Just Keep Swimming Writing Category
I Heart Blogging, or, Thank You Dorothy Allison
Posted on April 4, 2019 Leave a Comment
Here’s what you’ll see on my About page now. When Sam Phillips’ secretary at Sun Records, Marion Keisker, asked Elvis who he sounded like, he replied, “I don’t sound like nobody, ma’am.” Writing can be such an isolating activity, that I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling like I don’t write like anybody else does. […]
The Journey Begins
Posted on November 19, 2018 Leave a Comment
Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton This is a place for peaceful contemplation inspired by story. What is spiritual mindfulness? For me, it is remembering to feed my spirit. This blog is a spiritual practice~~storying the soul, if you will. Most sites I find […]
Dear God, Let Me Be Mindful, and Hurry Up!
Posted on January 13, 2018 Leave a Comment
I don’t blog as much as I would like, so when I return to this site, I read the last post I’ve written. I did that today and thought it wasn’t half bad. I remember writing it, I had intended it to mark the beginning of my commitment toward mindfulness. That was April; this is […]
Watershed: Three Questions and Mindfulness
Posted on April 4, 2017 Leave a Comment
There’s a line in the Indigo Girls song Watershed that goes, Every five years or so I look back on my life, and I have a good laugh. Absolutely worth pausing to enjoy: The line reminds me of a therapy session I had a little less than a decade ago. I’m a firm believer in […]
Giving Account of Oneself
Posted on January 14, 2014 1 Comment
All my brainiac friends don’t get excited. This ain’t about Judith Butler. There is one part of being a professor that I actually don’t mind: the annual review process. I also enjoyed (!) the Tenure & Promotion process a few years ago, which is very similar, just a little bit higher stakes. Am I a […]
On Writing, Part 2: The Sabbatical Begins
Posted on January 14, 2014 1 Comment
A sabbatical is a powerful thing. At my university, they aren’t actually called sabbaticals; They are “Enhanced Faculty Leave.” They are competitive, awarded based on a research proposal. At universities that honor the writing processes of its faculty, sabbaticals are given about once every six or seven years. Sabbaticals, not Enhanced Faculty Leave. Why can’t […]
On Writing, Part 1: Friends and Me
Posted on January 10, 2014 1 Comment
I have lately begun surrounding myself with friends who are either Sagittarius or who have backgrounds in a counseling or therapy profession, or both. I did not start out to purposefully do this, but once I noticed that I seemed to be collecting these kinds of people for friends, I kept keeping track. Now, It is […]
You Know You’re a Virgo If…
Posted on December 20, 2012 Leave a Comment
…when you are doing any other kind of writing (like on a fun blog, for example), you feel guilty that you aren’t doing academic (i.e., real) writing.
The Oldest (Writing) Trick in the World
Posted on January 17, 2012 Leave a Comment
I would bet money that the “oldest (writing assignment) trick in the world” was invented by a high school boy. The kind that ends up a radio show morning dj who, along with one or two other sidekicks–including a woman who is usually the brunt of the sexual joking–fills the a.m. work traffic airwaves with […]
How to Make a Million Dollars
Posted on January 6, 2012 Leave a Comment
I don’t know whether to laugh out loud or rage loudly when someone–usually my dad or daughter, who share political views–parrots the far right Glen Beck propaganda that teachers make millions of dollars over our lifetimes and, with the underhanded workings of powerful teacher unions, have more millions of benefits. If only teachers’ egregious salaries […]
