Home Brew: Day 1

“Discipline” is going to be the name of the game these next two weeks. That and “fun.” I’m serving as Artist in the Schools for McDowell County (starting Monday morning, bright and early) but I’m living at my parent’s house an hour away in Yancey County.

Discipline will be key because I’ve got to keep up my applying, freelance, and work out regimens (and be prepared to teach each morning) while also being in an environment I typically associate with leisure. Home means chill time, family time, safety, and relaxation. But these next two weeks, first and foremost it’s got to mean: “Do your job and do it well.”

Fun should be the easy part. There are loads of people I want to see and hardly enough time to do it. The only way to handle that? Large group gatherings and lots of planning. The key will be not over-planning, which is my nature, because the moments I really love with my friends are in fact the ones that can’t be planned at all. The spontaneous hike at sunset. The potlucks thrown together at the last minute. Sipping a beer on the knoll or walking the dogs or dropping by a potter’s studio.

I’ll be posting a student quote of the day and some brief reflections on today’s young writers. And I’ll be sorting through the emotions of being back in a place I love so much, while also continually having to confront the fact that I left. I’ll call this mixing of roles “Home Brew” and try my best to chart the days with vividness and heart, all the while balancing my own challenges as they ebb and flow.