Sunday, August 23, 2015

Writing on Sunday: A Renewed Commitment

One of my favorite indy coffeehouses is not open as early as I thought on Sunday. That means I am at Starbucks- I prefer to pass on corporate coffee. Well, that is only partially true, during five wonderful research trips, Starbucks in Miraflores, Lima, Peru, was my de facto office where I would meet colleagues and research participants. The vibe is different, for sure. At any given time in the Starbucks off Parque Kennedy I was minutes away from a stimulating conversation with another costumer (read: politician, doctoral student, lawyer, actress, artist, ect) about Jaime Bayly, (try to find an English version of Los Amigos Que Perdi, it is magical!) the Fujimori years, or where truly the best ceviche can be found in Lima (It is La Mar, says I!).

Alas, here I am at Starbucks just south of Tacoma in Parkland, and while disappointed, I am writing! I put in about an hour on an article about the educational uses of autoethnography in social work education. It is not my primary article, so it is one that I am working on from time to time. I will always have a primary piece that I am trying to kick out the door, and secondary and tertiary pieces that get time after my work on the primary piece is done, or when I just have nothing at the moment for the primary. Working through my writing this way, things get done!

I have written less over the last few months than at any time during the last 17 years. It has been the first time in nearly two decades that I have not written every day. I could blame it on my life changes and transitions, and while there is some truth to that, I know that when I do write every day, everything in my life works better. Writing opens possibilities to me. As Bukowski wrote, write is the "Ultimate Psychiatrist." Daily writing allows me to let go of all pressure to produce, paradoxically. It allows me to sink into myself, engage in writing as a method of inquiry, not only into what I am writing about, but into myself.

I have three weeks before I am officially on the clock (yay, quarter system). I am committing here to two hours a day of academic writing. I have the time. I have the desire. I have worked through all of my "stuff" about writing, productivity and scholarship many years ago. (so, please don't feel bad if I write more than you do, over the next few weeks ;).  Now I just need to use my tools to get back to it fully. One of them is to be accountable to others. So, I am accountable to all of you. Keep on me! Lets do this!



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