In these past few days of underemployment, let me record a few impressions that aren't substantial enough to warrant a whole post, but which I want to remember:
--I have realized that I now have time for lunch with friends. In 2016 when I went to what was then my new job, I was amazed that no one ever went to lunch--not with each other, not with friends from other parts of life, not with professional contacts. I suspect that few of us even ate lunch. When people would come to my office to find me eating, they often apologized profusely, which led me to believe that few of us ate.
--At the time, I was not a campus director. I did wonder if it would be possible to change the culture of the campus, but I did not feel brave enough to move that way on my own. I did continue to eat lunch and snacks at my desk, but I rarely met a friend for lunch elsewhere. When I did meet someone off campus, I always felt the clock ticking.
--In the position that I was just severed from, I sensed some of the campus culture changing in ways that made me sad. The odyssey of the library is one that I could offer in this public place. When I arrived in 2016, the campus had the smallest library I've ever seen, in terms of the number of books on the shelf. But the library itself had a good vibe, with 8 computers and a glassed off study/tutoring/testing room with more computers. We had a huge collection of electronic resources and opportunities. We had a full-time staff person. We had a credentialed librarian who came to campus twice a week. When I left, there had been talk of not having a library at all, which was the preference of the new owner, or putting it in a computer lab, or transforming the smallest room on campus into the library. When I left, the Allied Health lab was doing double duty as a computer lab, and the plan was to move Allied Health supplies out of the cabinets, take the doors of the cabinets, and put the books in there.
--Again, I am so happy that I will not be there when the accreditation visit happens in late March.
--On Monday, I didn't feel as relieved not to be at work as some people might on a Monday. Mondays on our campus used to be slow days, a slow re-entry from week-end to work. Today I am relieved not to be at work. Wednesdays are the most hectic days on campus, with classes in every room. The day for me was broken up by a mid-day meeting with people from multiple campuses, and as a result, the meetings were long, and not every item seemed relevant to me.
--Once those meetings were every other week, and we decided to have them every week so that they wouldn't be as long. It may or may not surprise you to find out that they were every bit as long.
--Yesterday, instead of my usual mid-morning snack of two slices of homemade bread toasted, I made myself a grilled ham-and-swiss sandwich. It was delicious, and it ended up being more like an early lunch, in terms of calories consumed during the day. But I am going to need to be more mindful during these days of being underemployed at home.
--Let me also remember that I went on a two hour walk yesterday. What a joy to have time to do that.
--I am resisting the urge I have to fill up every scrap of free time with productivity, which for me often translates into something that will bring in money.
--But I also want to think about spending some of this newly free time working on projects that might bring in some money. I am a certified spiritual director now. I could register with the synod for my church and with the national database. When I first got certified in January, I didn't have any time to devote to this career. Now I do. Let me think about what this might look like.
--My spouse has started going to campus again, in the limited way of adjunct faculty. It occurs to me that I have rarely had the place all to myself since the pandemic. I am looking forward to cooking as self care: some pumpkin butter, lemon yogurt muffins, and a quiche for tonight. I plan to make some phone calls to friends, to catch up on seminary work, to catch up on grading for my online classes . . . it will be wonderful!
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