Today was a typical Monday (class, meetings, etc) with the added excitement of a weather situation happening this week. A friend and I were looking up snow predictions on the website and we came across this image from the local news station.
The Circle of Uncertainty!
What an excellent metaphor for life.
Just to be clear, I do take a day now and again and do almost nothing. Today was that day. While I caught up on email, did some reading, and watched lots of episodes of Scandal with Shane, I was in my pajamas all day. I was sore from a 4 mile jog in the 28 degree, 18 mph weather yesterday. I did do it in just under an hour, which I recognize is not all that fast, but for me and against the wind on the way back, I was ecstatic.
So I made the deliberate choice to use today to recharge a bit and prepare for a pretty full week.
Today we went to the 4th Annual Jolly Skull Beer Fest, and we had a great time. We tried lots of different beers, and I may have found two new favorites.
I found this So-Cal Orange witbier from the Coronado Brewing Company, which I kept going back for. It had a subtle touch of citrus and spice.
And then I was excited to see Abita Brewery representing Louisiana. They had a new beer called the Andygator. It was really, really good, and our friend, Andy, got himself a new nickname. Here’s the description:
Abita Andygator®, a creature of the swamp, is a unique, high-gravity brew made with pale malt, German lager yeast, and German Perle hops. Unlike other high-gravity brews, Andygator® is fermented to a dry finish with a slightly sweet flavor and subtle fruit aroma. Reaching an alcohol strength of 8% by volume, it is a Helles Doppelbock.
A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Now, I’ll have to see if I get my hands on these two.
This is my the desk in my office. It’s one of the first things students, colleagues, and visitors see when they walk in and especially if they sit down to meet with me. I never see it when I sit at my desk because it is turned outward. I was kinda out-of-sorts yesterday because my assistant (who keeps me sane) was out sick 🙁 (which is normally fine) but I hadn’t taught all week because of the MLK holiday and the “snow” day 2 hour delay, which meant my class didn’t meet on Wednesday. (By the way, my mid-western friends living here were not at all impressed with our snow dusting, but that’s for another post). Yesterday, I met with a potential PhD student who has applied to our program. She was in town scoping things out and wanted to meet with me for more information.
Anyhoo, back to me being out of sorts. This potential student was very enthusiastic and engaged, which, of course, made me very happy. The student asked a series of questions; I gave my spiel. It was a lovely conversation. And as the student was getting ready to leave, the student said, “You know, that (pointing to my yoda plaque) tells me what kind of professor you are.” I said, “How so?” The student said, “It tells me you’re gonna help students be successful, you have high expectations, but you probably don’t like excuses.” I was almost speechless (which you know doesn’t happen often). I paused and said, “Yes, in graduate school, you have two choices; to act or not act. Trying isn’t always enough. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t.” The student laughed at all the Yodas in my office and left. And of course, after she left, I thought more about that quote and what it might communicate to the potential and current graduate students.
It’s interesting because this quote used by any other character or in any other context would alert 
my binary alarm. Do or Do Not. Where’s the middle ground or complexity in this binary? I always try to problematize binaries because concepts that seem opposing are actually usually on a continuum of sorts. Plus, we actually have language to be much more complex than binaries often allow us to be.
Yet Yoda gets a pass, well, because it’s Yoda (duh!) but also because of the context in which he uses this phrase. For Yoda, the phrase refers to commitment, perseverance, and action. I think the phrase is at the heart of being successful in graduate school or really any goal. “Trying” is often a way of convincing ourselves we’re doing, but when we’re not actually fully committing to the action or behavior.
For years, I tried to be more healthy and fit, and I tried to exercise regularly. But it wasn’t until I dedicated myself to doing it–getting fit and healthy and exercising–that I was doing it and not just trying. Now some will say this is semantics. You may have to try in order to do. But I would maintain that certain behaviors and decisions can’t just be tried, because they need the level of dedication and commitment necessary to continue doing consistently. A graduate degree is just one of these things. Cultivating a healthy lifestyle. Writing. Running. Loving. Words mean things, and we use them to construct our realities and persuade ourselves to do the things that are important. Part of my own success has been in changing the way I think about things in addition to doing. Yoda has helped me with this.
When I began my journey to a more healthy lifestyle, I set 3 eating goals a day, and I focused on additive behaviors rather than deprivation behaviors. I needed to focus on what I was going to do, not what I wasn’t going to do. (That hadn’t worked, so I wasn’t confident it would work long-term.)
1. Eat breakfast every morning. (2 eggs in olive oil w/ Tony’s Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and coffee)
2. Eat at least 2 fruits a day.
3. Eat 3 servings of vegetables.
And now 2 years later, I still focus on these goals and hit them most days although I’ve added oatmeal more recently.
Eating breakfast every morning is the single habit that I didn’t believe would have a significant impact going in, but it is the most important behavior for my metabolism. At times, I have yogurt, cereal, or fruit, and now I eat before I exercise, which helps my endurance and workouts.
Here are several quotes/sayings I try to come back to time and time again.
I have been working on a number of longer posts, but I find I have to draft them and let them sit for a couple of days and come back to them. In a conversation with a friend a couple of weeks ago, we were discussing how awesome the (somewhat) flexibility of our positions as professors afford us. My schedule and office time has become more and more standard over the years especially as a director, but lots of my time is still flexible. I can answer student emails and queries from potential graduate students at 9:30 PM or 5:30 AM. I work better with a routine, and so each semester, I try to vary things up a bit to take advantage of the flexibility. I’ve never added up the number of hours I spend each week at or on work mostly because I love what I do, and does reading a great new book or article by a smart scholar really count as work?
I was lamenting to my friend how it’s REALLY hard to explain to people outside higher education (my partner, Shane, has been so patient in learning this) or who haven’t done administrative work where the time in the day goes. I tell anyone in my family (except my brother, Michael Eble, who is also a professor) that I teach one course a semester 3x a week for 50 minutes, and they wonder what the heck I am doing with all the rest of the time.
Now, let me be clear, this is not a post about how busy I am #allthetime; it’s actually the opposite. I am grateful for a career and position where every day is a little different, and there’s almost no way to plan or expect the types of conversations I will get to have or the issues and problems I will need get to solve.
So today, I spent the morning meeting with several graduate students. I needed to meet with three of them so I could give them a list of things to do for their assistantships and set their hours, but then I had the opportunity to talk with them about their classes and projects. Then I met with two others to discuss their MA final projects and answer questions related to graduation, potential PhD programs, etc. I talked with two other MA students briefly about their bake sale, and I donated money and my cupcake to someone else. It was a great, rewarding morning and reminded me why I love my job.
By now, it was 1:30…I warmed my lunch and consulted with another director on two issues and then walked across campus to a graduate program directors’ meeting. There I added 5 due dates to my calendar for assessment data, reports, and proposals due to the graduate school…all before February 15. And then I reminded myself how much I love what I do even if I don’t love every minute of every day. I left there @ 4:00, walked back to my office, checked on the graduate students in the writing studio, and sent emails (wrote to my co-editor about a project, confirmed graduate student hours, confirmed with co-presenter for lunch and learns at Vidant Medical Center, consulted with my assistant, checked on the submission of another edited collection proposal, and requested money for the graduate students), until 5:45 before coming home. This doesn’t include the texting and facebooking sprinkled throughout with friends.
And now I’m reading for the class I teach in the morning, which hardly seems like work. I genuinely love watching the students grow and learn, and I enjoy learning from them as well. They seem genuinely surprised when I tell them that I learn from them.
What surprised me today was how out of sorts it made me to change gears after such a lovely morning with students. But it might have been the first time, I was still enough to be mindful of it. I decided to just embrace it and remind myself that I probably wouldn’t change a thing. I mean, maybe less meetings, but for someone as extroverted as me, some meetings are ok. (Ha!)
Lately, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the cognitive load required to shift my attention, focus, and energy throughout the day. From teaching and consulting with students to crisis prevention or problem-solving some issue not to mention the questions I need to answer not to mention the reading, writing, communicating, and grading. Lots of folks have made suggestions. Don’t look at email. Look at email only once. Close the door. Make priorities. Make appointments. Stay focused. Complete one task before you begin another. Yada. Yada.
What I’ve decided is to embrace the chaos, dig in, and get stuff done. It’s the only way to remain sane and calm in a hectic environment where reaction is the norm. I’m working on being proactive, and I think pro-action takes calmness and stillness if only for 5 seconds or so to think and have my brain catch up with my words or my words catch up with my brain. I recognize that calm and still are not words often used to describe me (if ever), but I wonder if that’s not a word that might be used to describe me as I turn 40.
As for lagniappe in my day in the life, I have the privilege of working with some amazing friends/colleagues and students. It’s doesn’t get any better.
Thanks for reading!
I read a quote by MLK this morning that I don’t remember ever seeing before. I’m sure I’ve seen it, but it certainly didn’t resonant in the past the way it did with me this morning.
“An Individual has not started living fully until they can rise above the narrow confines of individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of humanity. Every person must decide at some point, whether they will walk in light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment.
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
“Conquering Self-Centeredness” Speech in Montgomery, Alabama (Aug. 11, 1957)
I do lots for others especially friends, family, students, and colleagues, but I am in a privileged position to do more. Taking care of each other is important, and I will think pledge to do more of it this year.
I was reading the following article about amazon.com, Amazon Just Patented Shipping Items Before They’re Even Ordered, and the first sentence really got me thinking:
Late last month, Amazon patented a process they’ve termed “anticipatory package shipping,” in which products would be sent to fulfillment centers near the customers most likely to purchase them, before customers even order them.
I was really struck that my past purchases plus my browsing history, wish lists, and shopping carts (a series of aggregated data) could lead a company to “anticipate” my next purchase. (This isn’t new, but acting on it would be.) I purchase lots of gifts for other people through amazon especially over the holidays and with Amazon prime. It’s one of the reasons their recommendation system doesn’t always work well. The context of the purchases matter.
Now, what would be really cool is for them to tell me what they anticipate my next purchase will be, as it might anticipate something I hadn’t thought about or suggest something I hadn’t thought to gift as well.
Here’s the thing. Amazon.com turns 20 years this year. The online store went live in 2005, and this article got me 
thinking about my first purchase from amazon.com back in 1996-1997. It was Roald Dahl’s The Witches. I had just finishing my student teaching and was doing substitute teaching in Lafayette, LA. In February of 1997, I took over teaching 6th grade at Lafayette Middle when a teacher left mid-year.. I was planning to do a 5-10 minute read-aloud at the beginning of class, and I chose The Witches. After we finished the book, we watched the movie. (The movie is actually quite horrifying for some 6th graders, and I had parents questioning what I was doing as their children were having nightmares. oops!)
I was curious how far back my purchases on amazon went. It turns out I can go back to my purchases from 1998, when I first began my PhD program, and my oldest niece was 4, and my other niece was 1. The juxtaposition of children’s books and toys with history of rhetoric and literary theory books is a fun reminder of my life back then.
I’ve had the following image on my iphone for over two years. Every time I push the home button, I 
see it. If it’s one thing I’m gonna look at over and over again during the day, it’s whatever image that I choose for my lock screen. I think I’m ready to change it to something new, but I wanted to highlight how important it’s been to me on a daily basis. The number of times I got on the treadmill, carried my butt to the gym, or ran slogged through a quick slow two miles outside are too many, but I did it because I made it important. Period. And certainly I have days where I make excuses, but I figure if those days are in the minority, I am doing well.
And I’ve used a number of gadgets and apps to help me improve my health & fitness. I’m not going to list them all here, but I do want to write about my favorite after using a number of gadgets over the last two years.
The fitbit has been the most useful to me over the last couple of years. I tried the nike fuel for the first part of last year, but I we
nt back to the fitbit last summer when they came out with the fitbit flex, which I could wear on my wrist. And this year I started the year with the new fitbit force, and many of my friends and I are really enjoying competing with each other each day. Early on, it documented and showed me visually how much of the day I was sitting. As an academic in an administrative position, meetings and writing don’t allow for much walking especially if meetings are in the same building as my office. I noticed on days where I had meetings all over campus, I got more steps, and while teaching, I was much more active. This little gadget helped me make different choices related to parking and taking longer paths to get where I was going on campus. But what I realized too (and this was quite persuasive) was that it was VERY difficult to achieve 10,000 steps in a day if I didn’t workout. It also helped me realize that small changes that I continued day after day influenced my daily and weekly step totals. The data, graphs, and progress were very persuasive and really motivated me to continue. And just in the last week with my new fitbit force, I’m reminded again how motivating it can be. It syncs to the iphone through bluetooth, which is awesome. A friend has told me I am creating a cult since I’ve given so many of them to friends and encouraged others to purchase them. Ha!
I think the major thing that makes this technical gadget so persuasive is in its simplicity. Focusing on 10,000 steps a day is one small goal that can really add up over time and help change a sedentary lifestyle without much effort or planning.
Small investment; huge gain! And if you have one already, add me as a friend.