This Is Not Law School.

This is my first weekend as a student in an MFA Creative Writing program. I had classes this past week and now have actual stuff to do!

You know, when I was doing my MA I secretly harbored the masochistic desire that it be harder. The romantic in me kind of wanted it to be as terrible as law school or medical school, something truly challenging and intensely difficult. I am not saying that getting my MA degree was easy, it certainly was not, but it could have been harder.

Sometimes when I’m running (which I have not done since I got to Portland and which I might take a crack at later today), my body says, “Whoa there buddy, these are your legs calling and we think it is about time that we go a little slower.” And my brain says, “Well sure, that seems like a reasonable request.” But then my runner’s ego pipes up and says, “Wait just a minute! Are you dead? No you’re not? Then keep running.”

Doing my MA, I was often able to downshift (listen to my legs, as it were), but I’m not sure if I am going to be able to do that sort of thing anymore. I am looking at my to-do list for this weekend and the coming week and thinking, “Well shit, that is a lot of stuff to do.”

That masochistic part of me is excited, but all the other parts of me are asking, “What have you gotten us into now??”

This is going to be an interesting couple of years. Wish me luck!

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