Tomorrow a new chapter begins, both for myself and for the world.
For the world, the inauguration of a man who represents, in his diverse background, his dialectic reasoning, and his Dewey-like democratic style, we have a man who embodies the greatest virtues of the spirit of democracy (which is distinct from the political structure of democracy).
For myself, another grueling semester. This will be the third semester teaching six classes. Each time, I feel like I’m getting the tar kicked out of me. Almost every minute of my life is consumed with school, or taking breaks that are just long enough to cool my head and re-energize. Most aspects of my life are done for the sake of school: I still go to the gym, because I think and work better when my body is fit. But I do not do it for the sake of being fit. Even my friends are tools: I engage them in conversations that help me understand my subject better. (Of course, I would not use them merely as tools; I hope that they find value in the conversations as well.)
And as I’ve mentioned before, the sweetest aspect of this job are the breaks in between semesters. This break has been one of the most productive of my life. I read, wrote, cultivated friendships, and traveled a bit. But mostly I reflected upon the previous semester, about what I did well, what could be done better, and what I did that was flat out wrong. And for the last week, I have spent most of my time re-forging my syllabi, my lesson plans, and my philosophy of education. My practice will likely mean that this semester will be an improved product over previous ones, and I am excited to see how my plans hold up to the chaos of the semester.
Natural Causes 