Real Academics Blog

Dear Real Academics, In Mexico, where my parents and my husband's grandparents grew up, El Día de Los Reyes Magos (The Day of "Three" Kings) is on Jan. 6. On this day, children receive gifts and families gather around and eat a special bread called La Rosca de Reyes (The King's Wreath), usually with some steaming hot chocolate. The tradition comes from remembering when the wise men from the East saw a star and followed it to Jerusalem. There, they looked for and found the child Jesus and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and worshiped Him. Those interested can read the account in Matthew 2.  So, when I see old photographs of my parents as children at Christmas, they are not sitting on Santa's lap but standing in front of  Los Reyes Magos . In  honor of our families tradition, then, Tiberio and I took a picture with the Kings of the East after the spectacular Living Nativity performance put on by the church we attend. What does any of thi...

Dear Real Academics, Tiberio and I have a 2-year old "puppy" named Rocky. In this week's picture, Rocky is experiencing his first-time-ever small-town Christmas parade. Rocky had never seen a horse or a goat or a marching band or floats decked out with lights. So, when I saw him sitting so attentively and curiously looking at the parade, I had a sudden sense of awe myself thinking of what it must be like to experience something for the very first time.  As a writer, there is a part of me that needs and longs for awe and wonder. I find that I can revive that sense when I slow down, and I'd like to share some thoughts as to why this may be. In doing so, my goal is to help you (and me) with inspiration for writing and work. Slowing down can inspire my sense of awe and wonder by: (1) Allowing me time to be grateful. When I slow down, I can more easily appreciate what is in front of me instead of thinking about what I need to do next or ruminating on the past (which, unfor...

Dear Real Academics, I like to write. However, when I was in graduate school, I started to dislike writing...a lot. Is this you? Or perhaps you already really dislike writing? Here I want to share one tip I learned from being in the P.O.W.E.R. writing services that helped rekindle my love for writing and which, I believe, can help anyone become a more motivated and perhaps even better writer. That one tip is to read something beautiful. That's right. If you are an academic writer, chances are that you are immersed in reading technical genres of writing. To be frank, most academic writing is, unfortunately, not beautifully written.  As a human, I believe a little bit of my soul starts to die if I am not exposed to beautiful things after long-periods of time. Perhaps that's why it's so important for me to remember to take a walk and look at the sky or to appreciate art and music and to read beautiful things.  Beauty does something good to my soul.   For a writer -- ...

 Dear Real Academics, What do bats, babies, and bicycles have in common? Apart from starting with the letter "b", my husband, puppy, and I ran into all of them on our walk/hike this weekend on the historic Railroad Pass in Boulder City, Nevada.  The Railroad Pass is a walking/hiking path that runs alongside the mountains adjacent to Lake Mead and leads to the Hoover Dam. The pass goes through a series of tunnels blasted into the mountains back in the 1930's when the Hoover Dam was being constructed (known as the Boulder Dam back then).  Railroad tracks were laid down to transport materials from Boulder City to the dam construction area. Today, the tracks have been covered and people like to walk (their dogs), push strollers with babies, jog, and ride their bikes along the trail and enjoy the beautiful views of the lake.  Here is a picture of us on the trail this weekend. If you look closely, you can see one of the mountain tunnels in the background where, of course, ...

Dear Real Academics, I have built much of my career off of the relationship between writing and thinking . The whole foundation of my research is based on the argument regarding the importance of utilizing language -- specifically writing -- to understand scientific concepts.  Writing can help us refine our thinking, and even change it. Writing can help us understand the world. Writing can help us understand ourselves.  The image of the solitary writer sorting through their thinking is not a myth. This image may be criticized, mainly from the angle of assuring writers they are not alone and that others are writing alongside them, and even with them. There is power to these points, and I greatly value my community of writers and am motivated by being part of writing groups.  But here, my point is that individuals -- whether writing alongside or with someone -- are still individuals with thoughts, emotions, feelings, hopes, and dreams unique to them. Writing is a form of di...

Dear Real Academics, At certain times of the year -- particularly the beginning, middle, and end of semesters -- I start feeling anxious about all the large and many small projects ahead of me. Large things could be dissertations, manuscripts, grants, large assignments to grade... Smaller things could be a seemingly endless "to do" list such as scheduling meetings, attending meetings, answering emails, setting up classes for the next term, and/or learning new systems.  If you are not an academic by profession, you may still relate to some of the above types of tasks. Everyone may also have long-term goals related to health (e.g., eating healthier), finances (e.g., getting out of debt), or other (e.g., figuring out life changes).  Whatever your large project and/or many tasks, one way to NOT feel overwhelmed is to break things down into small steps.  This is by no means a new idea. Perhaps you've heard the staying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single s...

Dear Real Academics, Have you watched Hamilton, the broadway production? At the time of this blog post, a video version of Hamilton is currently on Disney Plus...for just 7.99/month (and you can cancel anytime), you can watch the play with the writer and creator, Lin Manuel-Miranda (the writer) playing the lead role. And no, Disney Plus is not sponsoring this post! I ask if you've seen the production because Hamilton includes a strongly woven theme of writing. Here, I don't intend to critically unpack this theme (or give away spoilers if you have not viewed it), but simply to encourage you to watch this breathtaking (in my opinion) production. And if you've already watched it, watch it again, paying attention to the thematic role of writing so beautifully interwoven throughout the play. With that said, allow me to muse on the question: "Is all writing a narrative"? As I watched Hamilton for the third time (in awe... and certainly not my last time), I concluded tha...

Dear Real Academics, There's a pattern among productivity strategists: If you want results, track your progress. Whether I'm watching a video or reading about financial planning, nutritional well-being, exercise programs, writing productivity, or self management in general, all programs that WORK have some element of what I default to calling "logging". I default to this term because of my experience with logging with writing (more on that below). Logging is tracking your progress.  I know, I know...it sounds dull and mundane and boring and hard to remember to do. It may even sound rigid, but here's the news: It is powerful. Why? This is a good question. For this post, I will not get into any facts or figures or empirical data to prove to you that tracking your progress is powerful when it comes to making progress.  But, reflect on your own experience. When have you made real progress on any goal you had that required change/effort/difficulty? What did it look lik...

Dear Real Academics, For those of you even remotely contemplating starting a business, consider a lovely book titled, "Mind Your Business: A Workbook to Grow you Creative Passion Into a Full-Time Gig" by Ilana Griffo.  Written by a graphic designer who has started several of her own businesses, the book is both fun and interactive. Ilana's personality literally pops through the pages through her fun graphics and writing as she thoughtfully challenges and inspires her readers to work through phases of starting a business. The book is both practical and inspirational. Real and gritty. Fun and creative. And the graphics are...well...really cool!  I highly recommend this book for any creatives out there thinking about monetizing (and, yes, this is not a BAD thing) the gifts they've been given to share with the world. (paid link) I am still working through the book. I've read the whole thing, but I'm still thinking things through as I write in the workbook. Lit...

Dear Real Academics, Confession: I'm dying to write. I am one of those strange people that enjoys writing (most of the time).  The last 12 years have demanded quite an enormous amount of writing from me. From writing doctoral level papers, to a dissertation, to over 25 publications (and counting), and everything else (e.g., job applications, award letters, letters of support, conference presentations/papers, annual review reports, course materials for online work).  I've enjoyed this writing for the most part, mainly because I love to learn, achieve, and keep growing. But...after waiting to hear if I received tenure (I did!) and the pandemic hitting at the same time last Spring (yes, THE Spring of 2020), I stopped writing. I was burnt out, thrown off, exhausted, and even de-motivated.  Well, I didn't completely STOP. I've kept writing. I've provided an insane amount of writing feedback for others (students, colleagues, journals -- oh so many journal reviews!). And I...