a season, a season

this is a season of intense busyness. doing 2.5 jobs has been time-consuming & tiring, and last month i gave up trying to fit NW Chorale into this quarter's schedule.

but that wasn't enough to lighten my load. for the last two quarters, i have been auditing a 2-quarter class at the UW School of Social Work - partly to reassess my interest in the PhD program, partly to earn a grade for it (i took it five years ago, but never finished the final paper). and i really enjoyed my partial return to academia, seeing more clearly how i could leverage its role in positive change. but after another weekend of staying in bed due to fatigue (instead of working on my midterm), i realized that it too had to go. so this morning i relinquished the class and freed myself from the guilt of not performing class expectations.

i feel like a huge burden has been lifted; at the same time i feel sad that my life has been so consumed by my work responsibilities. i love what i do, and there is little resentment in having the privilege to impact change. i am however looking forward to another season when other forms of activism & self-care can be better integrated into my life.

and i miss writing. i'm looking forward to a time when i can write regularly again.

and i miss my friends. i had a lovely, life-giving dinner date this evening with a good friend i hadn't seen in months.

and i'm looking forward to an extended vacation in vietnam, cambodia and korea. i leave in 4.5 weeks. during my sojourn, a badly neglected friend and i will get very sick of each other over the course of two weeks. what a privilege that will be! :)