A Short Hiatus (that turned long)

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

As I sit today and wait for my car to be serviced, I thought I would pop in to discuss my writing intentions for the new year and why I have been absent. I am breaking all of my composing norms, writing while others are buzzing around and typing this on my phone instead of writing in my quiet office space. But I’ve decided to let go of perfectionism in my writing this year and “flow with the go.” Perfectionism often blocks my creative endeavors, and I am resolved to heed the wisdom this year that “perfectionism is the enemy of good enough” — or something like that. At the risk of embarrassment, I won’t even take the time look up the correct quote. Caution to the wind!

My last post was in late October. It feels negligent that I have barely opened Substack (or even thought about it) for that long. But guilt is a terrible motivator, so I decided a better solution would be to check in when I am absent and write a short post explaining why. That is the purpose of this post.

I begin a new position as an adjunct history/art history professor this year, and building two courses has been quite a feat. Don’t get me wrong, I am geeking out about teaching, and I am very excited to fulfill this dream, but it takes a lot of time to build the ideas and then implement them into the course site. I also needed time off to put my house back in order after two years of graduate work and writing my thesis. With the mad pace of the semester before me, I needed to take time to see friends and family that are important in my life. The holiday preparations fall mostly on my shoulders, so I also needed to make the proper space to plan the holidays well.

As for the upcoming year, I plan to complete the John Augustus Walker series, which will require a trip to the museum for more photos of his art. I haven’t been able to move on to Part 2 for this reason. I have the content ready but not the photos, which are vitally important to the post. Next, I plan to write about a few women botanical artists. I have a few in mind but will continue to research this general topic. As a writer of art history, this is a subject that really excites me.

As I end this post, in the new year, I hope to add in casual posts about books I have read that have resonated with me. In the spirit of this, I really enjoyed reading The Farmer's Wife: My Life in Days by Helen Rebanks. Worth your time! Here’s to a new year of letting go of self-made barriers and moving forward… I hope you all find space to do the things you really love this year.