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In my last blog entry, I wrote the following:
"...This is an effect I've noticed before: when I do a significant amount of teaching, my creative output plummets. Why? And, does this mean that I should simply avoid teaching, or does it meant that my challenge is to learn how to teach while still living creatively?"
The next day, I got a phone call offering me a full-time teaching job for next year (one-year term appointment).
In that moment, it became clear that the answer was the second option--partly because, well, financial concerns do matter.
So in my own words, then, "my challenge (for next year) is to learn how to teach while still living creatively." I suspect what I need to do is to "teach creatively," i.e., to bring my creative spirit to all that I do--even to seemingly dry topics such as solving mathematical equations.
And while I still don't conceive of teaching math as a long-term career*, meeting this challenge can give me the experience necessary to better accomplish whatever comes next.
*I've had some thoughts recently about this as well, but the direction of those thoughts is so terrifying that I can't quite bring myself to talk about them yet, even on a semi-anonymous blog.
I've spent the last two years without a full-time job, giving me the luxury of lots of time for reflection and searching--a luxury which, frankly, I haven't always made good use of. I think I'm leaving the woods for real this time, returning to the world and bringing all the benefits of my personal efforts along with me.
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If you manage to pull off the "teaching creatively" trick, you probably won't have much urge or energy to write creatively too.
ReplyDeleteBut please, for all our sakes - write anyway. You'll be glad you did. It doesn't have to be creative - just a dull, factual account of what you did today will be helpful.
If you make the effort, have the discipline, to do that, several good things will happen. Most importantly: in five years' time, when you're facing some other creative challenge, you'll be able to look back and see what you were thinking during this time.
I was duped by the headlines of Cosmopolitan Magazine in the 80s that said I could do it all, be it all, have it all.
ReplyDeleteThey lied.
But. It is possible to find a way to balance the work with the other stuff... not only possible, but crucial, I believe, to living happy days. Otherwise, what's the point? The universe has thrown the gauntlet at your feet. Pick it up and keep writing.
1.) I think that you can master the "teaching creatively" challenge, and
ReplyDelete2.) I am starting to think that there really is something to be said for wrangling a day job and separating your worth and life as a person from what you do to pay the bills.
3.) This is going to be the fastest summer in the history of the universe, and I am excited for it.
At my advanced age, I am finally learning what La Archer says in Item 2; sometimes, it really is just a day job. That aside, having a day job--particularly one like teaching--can exhaust you. Write weekends, maybe?
ReplyDelete(p.s. sorry I haven't been around much)