Real Academics Blog

Dear Real Academics, Dr. Garza and I are currently in Texas, and it has been a very hot summer. It's always very hot in Texas in the summer, but our adjusting from extremely low humidity in the Nevada desert to some-high humidity has made it a bit...challenging. I am grateful we are, at least, not in Florida extreme humidity just yet. We are acclimating slowly to more and more humidity. Needless to say, Dr. Garza and I have spent much of our "recreational" time indoors, which includes making puzzles. Here, I want to give a quick shout out to Robert Dowdle and the beautiful puzzles he has created that also educate. If you've never heard of these puzzles, check them out here (Note: Costco sells them during the winter holiday season): https://dowdlefolkart.com/ (The picture in this post is a Dowdle puzzle we recently completed of Stockholm, Sweden). With that said, I've been reflecting on life lessons from making puzzles. Ok...well, maybe these are smaller than life...

Dear Real Academics, Today marks my first day without an official "real job" in a very long time. So, no organization to report to. No tethers. I feel as if I'm floating in the wide ocean -- which, if I think about it, is pretty scary. But, I am a Christian, and I believe that God has my back. I believe Jesus can keep my feet from sinking because He has been faithful throughout my whole life, and I believe He will continue to be faithful, so He is my anchor. What I'm saying doesn't mean that life is easy or that storms don't or won't come (like failure or sorrow or hardship or loss), but I have an anchor -- it's just not the tangible anchor of a steady salary, retirement, or the tenured academic position I left. It's also not an anchor of leaning on a human being or personal hero. And, for those who know me personally, you know by now that the last year has illustrated how all the tangible anchors named above are truly an illusion of security. In a...

Dear Real Academics, Since my last blog post titled, Taking a Pause for Productivity , I have not written in two months; and I am now evaluating how it feels not writing for so long. To be honest, writing right now feels strange... kind of like when, if you play an instrument, your fingers feel weak or awkward when you try to play after months (or in my case, years!) of not playing. Or, if you work out consistently, and you stop for a while and restart, your muscle memory is there but your body is asking, "Why are you doing this?" If you are a practicing writer, I don't recommend stopping writing for this long. In some ways, it's harder to get back to writing if you break for too long.  The silver lining to this experience is that I realize I miss writing and I miss interacting with those of you who read these posts and share them with others. I also realize that I can pick up writing again, but I need to give the practice time to feel "normal" again (and to...