My husband is not a writer and most of the time I’m thankful for this. Many famous writer couples have made it work (I guess?), but as it is, I have enough angst for the both of us. His job (along with editing duties as needed) is to listen patiently while I pour out all my latest writer angst.
Oct 30, 2023·edited Oct 30, 2023Liked by Robyn Ryle
I'm very interested in how your next four years go. A week or so ago @Anne Helen Peterson wrote about "the portal" or the period of transition that takes us from one stage of life to another. It's a rich, creative period for those who are paying attention and growing.
I’m feeling this right now. As a home health nurse. What’s my next step? It’s so disappointing out there. Insurance. The company I work for. The doctors. The hospitals. Other nurses. It feels like there’s a lot of apathy out there. I am trying to make a difference. Do I go back to school? Get a Masters in Public Health? I’m taking a few weeks off to rest and recover and relax and wait and see if the patient I’ve been taking care of for the last 2 years comes home from the hospital this week-he’s been there for over a month. He’s dying. I want to be there until the end of his little life. And then I will have to see where I go next. Waiting on an answer 🙏🏻❤️🩹
I would be interested, although my own transition out of nearly 40 years of teaching had not been at all planned. Family matters had me semi-retiring in my late 50s, then retiring completely a few years later when being an independent author actually made more money than the part-time teaching. But looking back I can see that taking the ending in stages as I built what would be a new career, did make the change much easier. I had thought that I would miss the class room, the students (never the grading!) or the colleagues, but it turned out, I the new career and community that I had found more than compensated for the losses. And, if marketing sometimes feels like grading (just part of the job) I have got to tell you, it really isn't nearly as bad as grading 200 some freshmen essays (yes that is what my class load was as a community college professor was)! So have fun with the transition and writing about it!
Ooh how exciting. My own version of this 'looking forward' is how it will be to not live in the/run the temple - current plan 6 - 8 years ish partly depending on Kaspa! I think it's good to have a new phase to look forward to - reminds us of impermanence and enjoying here while we can. PS I for one would very much like to read those essays ☺️
I’d be interested in your essays having left higher education a couple of years ago and gone through that identity transition, glad I left but know in some ways it would have been easier to have kept that institutional identity. It has been hard on the other side and I have little in common now with those who remain there. Also interested in that idea of publishing angst! I really enjoy writing but almost have a panic attack when I publish it...
“I have no idea if anyone would be interested in reading such a thing. I find I don’t really care. This feels like progress.” It is progress! Go, you ❤️ Personally, I think the first person you should write for is you, otherwise, what’s the point? That said, I’d be interested in reading your college essays. Many years ago I toyed with teaching, preferably at a college or community college. It wasn’t meant to be but I still spent a lot of time in academia.
I'm in a similar liminal place right now. I've decided to go on disability beginning in Jan, which feels like I'm retiring. I'm 2 years shy of 15 years at BSU, which would lock in my retirement benefits. Normally, I'd just push through and get r done, but my pushing through days seem to be over. Long Covid is really kicking my ass. I will definitely read what you have to say!
I'm very interested in how your next four years go. A week or so ago @Anne Helen Peterson wrote about "the portal" or the period of transition that takes us from one stage of life to another. It's a rich, creative period for those who are paying attention and growing.
I’m feeling this right now. As a home health nurse. What’s my next step? It’s so disappointing out there. Insurance. The company I work for. The doctors. The hospitals. Other nurses. It feels like there’s a lot of apathy out there. I am trying to make a difference. Do I go back to school? Get a Masters in Public Health? I’m taking a few weeks off to rest and recover and relax and wait and see if the patient I’ve been taking care of for the last 2 years comes home from the hospital this week-he’s been there for over a month. He’s dying. I want to be there until the end of his little life. And then I will have to see where I go next. Waiting on an answer 🙏🏻❤️🩹
I would be interested, although my own transition out of nearly 40 years of teaching had not been at all planned. Family matters had me semi-retiring in my late 50s, then retiring completely a few years later when being an independent author actually made more money than the part-time teaching. But looking back I can see that taking the ending in stages as I built what would be a new career, did make the change much easier. I had thought that I would miss the class room, the students (never the grading!) or the colleagues, but it turned out, I the new career and community that I had found more than compensated for the losses. And, if marketing sometimes feels like grading (just part of the job) I have got to tell you, it really isn't nearly as bad as grading 200 some freshmen essays (yes that is what my class load was as a community college professor was)! So have fun with the transition and writing about it!
Ooh how exciting. My own version of this 'looking forward' is how it will be to not live in the/run the temple - current plan 6 - 8 years ish partly depending on Kaspa! I think it's good to have a new phase to look forward to - reminds us of impermanence and enjoying here while we can. PS I for one would very much like to read those essays ☺️
I’d be interested in your essays having left higher education a couple of years ago and gone through that identity transition, glad I left but know in some ways it would have been easier to have kept that institutional identity. It has been hard on the other side and I have little in common now with those who remain there. Also interested in that idea of publishing angst! I really enjoy writing but almost have a panic attack when I publish it...
“I have no idea if anyone would be interested in reading such a thing. I find I don’t really care. This feels like progress.” It is progress! Go, you ❤️ Personally, I think the first person you should write for is you, otherwise, what’s the point? That said, I’d be interested in reading your college essays. Many years ago I toyed with teaching, preferably at a college or community college. It wasn’t meant to be but I still spent a lot of time in academia.
I'm in a similar liminal place right now. I've decided to go on disability beginning in Jan, which feels like I'm retiring. I'm 2 years shy of 15 years at BSU, which would lock in my retirement benefits. Normally, I'd just push through and get r done, but my pushing through days seem to be over. Long Covid is really kicking my ass. I will definitely read what you have to say!