Virgin Entry

I feel as though I am embarking on a maiden voyage that will allow me to access territory I'm not certain I want to access. Only ten years ago, I looked at the computer as a tool that replaced the typewriter. That was the main use, I thought then, that I would make of it. As I entered the arena of teaching and research, I quickly acclimated to the wonders of technology and still marvel at the quick access to what seems like the world, and it is--the virtual world, at least.

With the world comes the world's largesse. How to identify boundaries? How to limit one's inquiries? Once on the computer, hours can be, and sadly often are, lost. Even as I begin to prepare in extremis for the new academic year, I dread not the interactions with students, not the critical inquiry that can sometimes be so exhilirating (thanks summer Topics class for a great quarter!), but the feeling that I am chained to the computer, to sedentariness, to an immersion in a world that is a parallel universe to that of my sons and my friends whom I see too infrequently during the school year, the woods that back my house, my cats that meow their complaints at me, and the physical pleasures of life (food, drink, and e.e. cummings' lovely etcetera.).

So what am I doing on a blog? I will be exploring this computer venue with my students this year and suggesting later this year that they might blog to represent their research. So I must blaze my own trail to find out what pitfalls they might encounter, whether it's a good idea after all, and what unforeseen benefits might arise. Already, however, I can see the greatest pitfall for me--the time spent in this virtual world. I paused when asked my virtual name and web-title. No. Pausing is a euphemism for what happened. It was paralysis. What to name myself? How can I decide on a name when I can't decide what text to use for a class or what day to sign up for a computer class? What does a title represent? What would be both catchy and revealing, but not too revealing? Such ruminations led me to wonder if it shouldn't be therapy-time to discuss issues of decision-making and forward movement.

Deep breath. It's only a blog. It's only a class. It's only my life. Panic.

Another breath. The reason I chose "Less is More" is that a gentleman I know was telling me of a Japanese word that translates to this; we'd been having a conversation on how to survive in a world that somehow gets away from us all too easily. Almost invariably, when I do manage to take enough deep breaths, do some meditation, remember my yoga breathing, or just wake with the "right" attitude, I can see that what I want to do is really very simple: with my teaching, for example, it's to teach a class which most participants, including myself, enjoy and learn from. It doesn't have to have bells and whistles; it doesn't have to reinvent the world. I don't have to reinvent myself every day, either. It's hard not to try to do that when I want (expect?) so much from the world and myself. But more is usually too much when, as happens to me and many of my friends, our baseline is still chock full of obligations, expectations, worries, and yes, even blessings. Less can be more, and it will be interesting to see if blogging becomes a "More" that is detrimental, or if it helps me focus and reminds me of how to continue to see life as a way to pare down to the essentials. More in another post of what those essentials are for me.

Thanks to my friend at Micwriter for getting me inspired to start this. She and I and another of our friends and colleagues are dedicated to supporting each other in these endeavors and in the "less is more" mantra. I'd like this blog to take a measure of the success or failure of this voyage into The Territory of Less. May it be a memorable adventure full of beauty and lessons to live by.