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Not a coin blog post.
Today is the the first day of feeling truly self directed in, well… *checks last blog post* 15 day. Wowza. How did that happen?
Much of it was meetings with colleagues both at my institution and others about matters relevant to my own career that took preparation and a great deal of energy both before, during and after. The only detail ready to be shared here is that I get a month in the Berlin museums next academic year and am just delighted.
I also served as the external examiner for a history department at a small liberal arts college, perhaps some of the most fulfilling service I’ve done for a long time–I learned a ton and met wonderful colleagues both at the institution and among the team of other externals. It as particularly enriching to reflect upon the diversity of faculty experiences in academia and across institutions.
Then I had a minor medical procedure (everything is fine: it just takes time to take care of oneself). In the recovery from that, I watched a great deal of the Extraordinary Attorney Woo. I don’t obsess about whales, I can walk through revolving doors, and no, I don’t memorize every thing I read, but watching a character become easily overstimulated by certain types of conflict and noise and the desire to escape or stim in those situations is more delightfully comforting to see on tv than I would have ever guessed. No I’m not autistic, but my neuro-divergence has limited symptom cluster overlaps, and I’ve never seen this so compassionately portrayed on the screen. It has given me a great deal of food for thought.
Now I’m dreadfully behind on communications and feeling tired and slightly avoidant. I really have a love-hate relationship with social interactions. Are you on my list of someone to talk to? I never mind a kind nudge. It’s a really a gift.
I’ve made a paper list of people to write or reach out to. Probably not complete but a start. Hopefully as I follow up on stuff my drive for my research projects will return.
Liv Mariah Yarrow 