It’s Been a Hot Minute

Hey everyone! It’s been a long time. Like, almost two years. I just wanted to write and say I’m alive and well. I took a break from writing for the past year and have thus neglected to keep up my newsletter! Anyhow, I’m back now and will most likely be just as inconsistent, but I’m aiming for improvement.

Last year, around this very time, I decided to go back to work as a nurse. The decision came when we added a private school tuition and things were financially tighter than usual. I’d just come home from a writing conference in Vermont, which was revelatory in several ways, one ironically being that I needed to step away from my writing for while, not push deeper into it. So, back to the workplace I went.

For a long time I’ve struggled with how to strike the balance between healthcare and art, not to mention a family. One can only invest in so many things at a time and it’s rare that I’ve been able to do ALL the things simultaneously. As a result, I thought I might leave nursing for good and fully focus on writing, but let’s face it: it’s challenging to generate income in the creative arts, and practicality often wins out. Going back to work as a nurse, however, was good for my psyche and thus, my writing. I’d missed working with my hands, seeing my coworkers, and caring for people in tangible ways. And, after slogging along at home for years, trying to create my own structure as a writer and teacher, I felt as burned out as my lawn in late August. I was stuck in my mind all day, parched and withering. I needed more containment and stimulation, which as it turns out, I’m lousy at providing for myself.

I’m grateful to return to writing now and see that the time and energy I invested when I was “all in” over the past few years was not a waste. It’s all still there, mostly, though I did realize last week that my website had been down for months because of an expired credit card. (Inattentive ADHD strikes again). Praise God I was able to recover my domain name and things are back up and running. (Thanks again, Andie!)

I’m not really sure what this online space will look like in the near future, especially as I juggle nursing and writing and parenting. I started this newsletter a few years ago because people in publishing said I should. Also, because I was nostalgic for the good, old blogging days of the early 2000s, when you could get online and share your unremarkable, self-absorbed thoughts and connect over common interests. I’ll still be writing about my same old preoccupations: the writing process, favorite books/poems/TV shows, finding faith amid religious deconstruction, mental health, healthcare, military stuff, marriage/motherhood, and the general absurdity of being a human being with a physical body. I may migrate over to Substack at some point, and most of what I write will be somewhat unpolished because of time constraints. If none of these things interest you, feel free to unsubscribe. Seriously. My email is a dumpster fire, and the last thing I want is to add to yours.

As far as updates, I have no publications to announce, and I’m not currently teaching any classes. But I do have a reading coming up at The Muse with some fellow military-affiliated writers. If you live in the Hampton Roads area, please come out! It would so great to see you. I’ll be reading a short excerpt from my memoir manuscript.

I’ll keep it short for today. Please comment or hit reply and drop me a line about how you’re doing! I would love to reconnect.

xo Libby