Friday Feature: So, Busy is Good?

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 I'm retired. Sort of. I joke that I retired, but it didn't take, and my friends shake their heads and laughingly comment that I'm busier now than I was when I worked full time.

Officially worked full time, that is. Now, teaching part time, writing part time, publicizing my books and doing the wife/mom thing, I probably work even more hours than I did then. Although I definitely could stand to improve the work/life balance some days, I'm not complaining. I'm busy doing things I love doing.

As it turns out, being busy might just be a good thing, especially for people my age. Whether it's the myriad learning opportunities, the constant exposure to a variety of new ideas or something else entirely, a Texas study shows a positive correlation between busyness and cognitive functioning for people in their fifties -- at least the people in their fifties who participated in the study.

Most days, this person in her fifties feels more busy than smart, but thanks to that study, I like my odds.

Mom Time

Photo: Pixabay

This weekend, I am attempting to have my cake and eat it, too. It's the annual Pennwriters Conference, which I love, but for which I am woefully unprepared. Sure, I've been mentally planning this trip for weeks, but as far as the actual, physical planning? Not so much.

See, this year, the conference coincides with my daughter's last week of high school ever. I thought I'd have a lovely buffer zone between the end of my semester last week and the conference, which starts Friday, but that has not been how things have worked out.

Monday night was the Academic Awards Ceremony, an event so perfume-laden that it rendered me hacking and sofa-bound for a substantial portion of the afternoon yesterday (thanks so much to all who bathed in their fragrance of choice). This put me behind in my preparation for tonight's critique group meeting, not to mention today's blogs, and before I knew it, one day's list was morphing into the next day's and the leftovers were taking over the schedule.

And the schedule itself was a challenge to begin with. The plan was to spend Friday at the conference, drive home Saturday afternoon to be here in time for prom pictures, drive back Saturday night and finish out the conference on Sunday.

Still the plan. Except, as I mentioned before, the leftovers are chasing me. Graduation announcements. Clothing for said ceremony and for the beach trip that follows. Party prep.

It will all get done. Little by little, step by step and in spite of the best-laid plans. It always does, which is why, by this time tomorrow, I will have switched gears. It'll be later than I'd hoped, but it will happen.

I'm going to Pennwriters.

And when I return, I'll need to wade out of the river of denial and approach the graduation that lies on its shores.

pennwriters.org

But meanwhile, I'm going to Pennwriters.

News to Share!

Because today, the first day of summer break, is not going at all according to plan (maybe it's the fall weather??), I'm posting some news today and returning to my regularly scheduled posts on Wednesday.

I'm very excited to be a part of this project, and can only imagine what Lisa and Sarah went through wrangling more than 80 contributors! I had a lot of fun writing my contributions.

If you scroll down below the cover, you can read what Lisa Hendey, one of the book's editors, has to say about this resource, and find links that will allow you to pre-order it.

The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion For more than fifteen years, the award-winning CatholicMom.com website has been a trusted source for sound, practical, and spiritual guidance. In their new book, Lisa M. Hendey and Sarah A. Reinhard bring together more than eighty moms, dads, and trusted spiritual companions to provide fresh, uplifting meditations for every day of the year.  You can pre-order the book from: Ave Maria Press Amazon Barnes & Noble Your local Catholic bookstore Whether or not you decide to order a copy, I hope you'll check it out! See you Wednesday.

Friday Freebie: The Cost of Not Waiting

Photo: Ashley Schweitzer via Minimography

Last Friday night, my husband and I were discussing ways to reduce our utility bills. Little did we know the answer was much closer at hand than we realized.

The next morning, I came across this piece in the New York Times about just how much the convenience of the immediate power-up we've come to expect from our electronics costs not just us, but the planet.

It was enough to make me go unplug my laptop.

How about you? What will you unplug today?

Baby Steps and Semantics

Pixabay

On Saturday, I corralled my daughter and made/re-scheduled all of her necessary appointments for the next two weeks (leading up to prom and graduation). With the exception of one appointment where we needed to await a return call, I was able to check those things off my list.

Then, while waiting for laundry, I tackled some piles in the basement, creating a really nice feeling of accomplishment -- at least until I realized it was late afternoon and no writing had taken place.

Monday kicked off my first class-free week (with the exception of a final I'm administering tomorrow) of the summer. Because I didn't have any class preparation to do, I forced myself to do an errand I'd been putting off before making my daily trip to Starbucks. Along the way, I took care of another overdue task -- one that had hung in limbo while I considered possible solutions. That evening, I sorted and cleared some of the paper clutter on the counter in my office. Excited by my progress, I wrote all of these accomplishments on my calendar, hatching a new plan that involved tackling one overdue task each day.

Yesterday? I wrote, had lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in almost a year, graded papers, made dinner, chipped away at the non-creative bits that are part of writing and blog maintenance and took care of things like dinner and laundry. In other words, a normal day, with no bonus tasks.

After I first berated myself, then considered redefining "overdue" (did that lunch "count"?) and finally thought about giving up and chalking Saturday and Monday up to sheer exuberance, I decided I was being silly.

Even as I wrote those tasks on the calendar on Monday, I worried that days would slip by without progress on my new goal. And do you know what that's called?

Life.

Pixabay

Any progress toward a goal is good news, whether that progress is step-by-step or in fits and starts. Saturday and Monday lit a fire under me, reminding me that small steps can lead to the desire to do more. I know this is true when it comes to saving money and writing and class planning, and I even write about it (often!) when it comes to organization.

Yet, as soon as I backslide, I forget this.

So...onward. Since I'm a writer and I know that finding the word that captures precisely what I want to say is important, I am going to redefine "overdue." Now that I think about it, the phrase "something I've been meaning to do" more accurately describes the lingering tasks I'm thinking of, without begging the question of how long it has to have been on the list to qualify as "overdue." And now that I mention it, I know exactly what that task du jour is going to be today.

How about you? What have you been meaning to do? Is today the day?

Resolution

Pixabay

Last week, I stuck my neck out in an attempt to once and for all get an answer to a dilemma I'd been wrestling with for some time. I thought I knew how things would go, but I hoped I was wrong.

I wasn't.

Still, I was unprepared for the feelings that washed over me when the answer presented itself. As it turned out, my preparation was insufficient for the hurt and confusion that surfaced and the uncertainty that lingered.

When I was working as a school counselor, and a student sat in front of me, bathed in regret or hurt over a choice he or she had made, I sometimes told them to remember that feeling. I didn't mean it in an unkind way. It's just that sometimes the only way we learn not to do things again is to remember how we felt the last time we did them.

And so I let the pain hang around for a while. I didn't push it away or try to shift blame. I did give in to other distractions, perhaps sooner than I should have, because I had deadlines to meet, and missing them would only create new problems.

I'm not sorry I stuck my neck out, and I'm not angry at the outcome. And now that I have my answer, I can put the matter to rest. I can box up all the unanswered questions that remain and remind myself that answers can't be gotten from those who don't want to give them.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But the reality is that even when we get an answer, it's often not the one we were hoping for.

Letting go is hard. But for me, uncertainty is harder.

Friday Feature: Advice for College Freshman

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Yesterday, I taught my last class of the semester, roughly 24 hours after I received my last request (I hope) for extra credit. After class, I met with a student (a freshman), and we discussed the multitude of life lessons she's learned this year, along with a few necessary academic prep skills she learned the hard way.

Some kids leave high school ready for the adventure that is college. Others show up in the fall needing to learn much more than what's in their textbooks.

All of these kids would benefit from reading this article on things new college students should know. While expectations will vary from one professor to the next, every professor will expect personal responsibility to be on the list of things students bring to class.

Without it, freshman year feels a lot longer and more painful than it ought to.