Real Academics Blog

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...

Dear Real Academics, When my husband was in graduate school, he took a course in the Department of Visualization at Texas A&M University. One of the course topics was about the difference between "looking" and "seeing". I am NO expert, but my understanding of this distinction is that "looking" is a physical act and "seeing" is a mental process of perception. I was reminded of the existence of this conceptual distinction when my husband and I watched a movie based on the life of Louis Wain this weekend ( The Electrical Life of Louis Wain on Amazon Prime with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role).  I knew little to nothing about Louis Wain. In a nut shell, I learned how Wain used his creative drawing ability to bring life and humor to readers through drawing cats. He also helped people in Victorian England warm up to the idea of keeping cats as pets (nice!). In the film, Louis' wife at one point compliments him for his ability to "lo...