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I’ve recently had two pieces of good news. The first, and rather less important, is that a proposal I wrote for a paper was accepted for the 41st annual conference of the Mythopoeic Society, Mythcon 41, to be held at Southern Methodist University (at which I fondly recall seeing a lecture by William Abraham years ago) in Dallas this July. The paper is tentatively entitled ‘“Mirrored in his soul with all its awe”: Cosmological Conflict in Njegoš’s Ray of the Microcosm’.
The second piece of news is that I’ve been offered a job next year teaching elementary Latin at my daughter’s classical school. (For those who are curious, yes, I’ll probably be relearning some of the declensions myself as I teach them to the kids!) Although I’d originally hoped to be doing something with the secondary school, my wife and I are very happy, and we see this as a good way to get a foot in the door. Besides, it goes without saying that I’ll be taking my duties quite seriously either way. (Sorry for the accompanying photo, Kevin!)
In other news, it looks quite likely that I’ll be in the Big Apple for a day or two around the 12th to 14th of June, and in Durham, NC later that same week. While in those places, I’d love to try to meet any bloggers or readers nearby, so please let me know. I’ve already been in touch with Bishop Savas of Troas and Christopher Orr about hanging out in NY.
Finally, readers, for the bad news. I have lately been experiencing some symptoms of what I believe to be tremendous stress, symptoms which directly interfere with my blogging activity. After discussing the matter with my spiritual father, my wife, my dad, and several close friends, I’ve decided among other things to take a little break from blogging for several days. My plan at the moment is to resume on 12 May, when I hope to write a post about the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In the meantime, I intend to spend more time with my family and outdoors, and less time with books and staring at a computer screen. I do not intend to give up on my long-term reading projects (mentioned here), but only my habit of reading snippets or quickly consulting individual passages of books and, worse, online material.
For the time being, I shall leave you with this stanza from Matthew Arnold, the final one of his ‘Bacchanalia; or, the New Age’ (The Works of Matthew Arnold (Ware, UK: Wordsworth Editions, 1995), p. 421):
The second piece of news is that I’ve been offered a job next year teaching elementary Latin at my daughter’s classical school. (For those who are curious, yes, I’ll probably be relearning some of the declensions myself as I teach them to the kids!) Although I’d originally hoped to be doing something with the secondary school, my wife and I are very happy, and we see this as a good way to get a foot in the door. Besides, it goes without saying that I’ll be taking my duties quite seriously either way. (Sorry for the accompanying photo, Kevin!)
In other news, it looks quite likely that I’ll be in the Big Apple for a day or two around the 12th to 14th of June, and in Durham, NC later that same week. While in those places, I’d love to try to meet any bloggers or readers nearby, so please let me know. I’ve already been in touch with Bishop Savas of Troas and Christopher Orr about hanging out in NY.
Finally, readers, for the bad news. I have lately been experiencing some symptoms of what I believe to be tremendous stress, symptoms which directly interfere with my blogging activity. After discussing the matter with my spiritual father, my wife, my dad, and several close friends, I’ve decided among other things to take a little break from blogging for several days. My plan at the moment is to resume on 12 May, when I hope to write a post about the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In the meantime, I intend to spend more time with my family and outdoors, and less time with books and staring at a computer screen. I do not intend to give up on my long-term reading projects (mentioned here), but only my habit of reading snippets or quickly consulting individual passages of books and, worse, online material.
For the time being, I shall leave you with this stanza from Matthew Arnold, the final one of his ‘Bacchanalia; or, the New Age’ (The Works of Matthew Arnold (Ware, UK: Wordsworth Editions, 1995), p. 421):
The world but feels the present’s spell,
The poet feels the past as well;
Whatever men have done, might do,
Whatever thought, might think it too.
15 comments:
Good decision!
Hi Aaron, I second the Extollager. Family comes first! We'll survive without you. Maybe after you come back you could give yourself a break by posting once a week instead of every day or multiple times a day. I can see how that would start to wear on someone!
Aaron,
Sorry to hear about your health. I have recently started to read your blog over the last few months and I am amazed at how much academic detail that you put into them. I wish you a well on your time way from the web log and await your post on Dante!
Aaron:
Christ is risen! I'm sorry to hear about your
illness. I would like to suggest that maybe you should rest for more than just 4 days! It is not enough time. Blogging only once a week is also a great idea. Take care!
Aaron,
Also I am wishing you very good health. Am recently reading books on Adrenaline and Stress by Archibald Hart - though he is a Protestant I believe his understanding of our current world, stress and illness is well worth knowing about.
I admit to finding his book titles a bit trite, BUT if you ignore this and learn about what he teaches in both his books
_The Anxiety Cure_
(http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Cure-Dr-Archibald-Hart/dp/0849942969)
and / or
_The Hidden Link Between Adrenaline and Stress_
They may of be of help to you.
I am personally finding these to be very accessible and like I have found some relevant 'how-to-manuals' to deal with life in this current age.
One of my dear librarian friends suffered a lot with migraines and after changing some of her habits based on she learned from Hart's book on Adrenaline and Stress, she really improved.
And, FYI, Hart's books are very much for both men as well.
Your blog articles are so in-depth -to the point that they seem like scholarly articles, with much work put in. This alone is a lot of work. I agree that it is okay to post much less and that sometimes we have to let go of what we wish to do in order to see what we have to do at present.
Rest is so important as is our health. Enjoy your family and seeking balance! :)
Wishing you and your family many years, God's health and salvation!
In Christ,
Elizabeth
Have a nice, fruitful, relaxing break. I agree with some of the other commentators here - perhaps your blistering posting schedule could be reeled in a bit, upon your return. I'm constantly amazed at how frequently some of my fellow bloggers (I hesitate to call you a 'fellow' blogger, as I consider you to be out of my league) can churn out such high-quality posts at such a high rate! However, I know I would probably do the same (well, can't speak to quality...) if my work schedule weren't so taxing.
Have a nice break and safe travels.
In the risen Christ,
Andreas
Thank you, my friends. We'll see how things are going after a few days. I might indeed slow down semi-permanently. Naturally, I won't be able to post every day once I start teaching in the fall anyway.
For those who are concerned, I'm already doing tons better. Say a prayer for me though!
The rest will do you good! You might want to simply permanently cut back. I love reading your posts, because they are always so well-researched and annotated, but this is also undoubtedly one of the reasons for your stress. Cut back some more. Your health is more important than a blog.
And of course I got a kick out of your Sorry for the accompanying photo, Kevin!. "Eek! He knows me so well!" I thought to myself.
Relax, enjoy, and most of all: rejoice! Because Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and bringing Life to those in the tombs!!!!
Let time go lightly and smile frequently and pray unceasingly!!
A couple of your premier posts a couple of times a month and I would keep returning!
Fear not!
Your newish sister in Christ,
Mary
Aaron- Are you able to read "Ray of the Microcosm" in the original? Would you be willing to produce a new translation? I've been really excited to read this poem, which some say is the Orthodox answer to Milton, but I don't read Serbian and I hear the current English translation is lacking.
Sorry, Ryan, I'm savvy enough to be able to consult the original on questions of diction and so forth, but not to read it through or translate it. There are two translations I know of, one of which is supposed to be better than the other according to one review I saw.
I can tell you that calling it 'the Orthodox answer to Milton' is quite a bit of a stretch, since the basic theological premise--that Adam & other humans are actually fallen angels that repented during the war in the heavens and were punished by being confined to this fleshly prison and made to forget what they had been--is actually less Orthodox on its surface than Milton is! It's a very odd poem...
God bless you in your new endeavors!
Will you be visiting Duke while you're in Durham? You may already know that Richard Hays will become acting dean of the Divinity School at the end of the semester.
And any time spent with the Pre-Raphaelites is time well spent. Looking forward to the post!
- Fr M
Fr Mark> Thank you. If I have time, I certainly would like to visit Duke. I'm not sure if the schedule will allow, however. I hadn't heard about Hays, but that's good news.
I hope the post lives up to your expectations. I didn't have the time I needed to do it properly. I'm not sure if you'll have noticed, but you receive an unfavourable reference in the latest comment from a certain anonymous boor!
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