There and Back Again: A Grad Student's Tale

I'm back in Indiana, back at school this morning, and my mood has changed (upwards) about 104% since I left. The thing is, somewhere on the grounds of that beautiful library, perhaps as I was discovering fascinating things in the manuscript I was looking at (working on a project I enjoy, of my own choosing), I remembered why I wanted to keep on with this grad school thing when my MA was over. I remembered what I love about it.

And so I'm back to work now, and much more enthusiastic about my semester. Actually excited to write papers and articles and to read them... Woohoo! Yup, seems a little time away doing something you love from time to time can be an immeasurable help in reminding you why you're taking on this crazy writing life in the first place.

Especially if it's somewhere warm.

Oh, and before I go, I wanted to share this from Friday's Good Letters post (which I missed because I was gone:

The spiritual life and the creative life both depend on conjuring something out of nothing. Or perhaps I should say “nothing,” because the void only presents the unimaginable until we’re in it. There’s nothing “fun” about it, though the results can be enjoyable.

The thing is, I think there is something "fun" about it sometimes--just not all the time. Sometimes one must be reminded of the joy in it, though, to get through those rough patches. This weekend I had a glimpse of the joy of conjuring again, and for that I'm grateful.