This is the time of year when we look ahead to the promise of new things coming. Whether it's the arrival of baby Jesus, the clean slate of a new year, or just the slow return of daylight, it's around now that people tend to think about what's coming next. That's certainly the case for me.
After handing in my dissertation (and after a week's trip to Scotland), I was right back at work to produce a conference paper. It was very much a show-and-tell of my early digging around, but it went over well in London, Ontario -- after I took a week to check out Iceland because, well, I could. (Iceland Air allows free stopovers on your way across the Atlantic.) I saw the northern lights for the first time and soaked in geothermal hot pools next to a semi-frozen lake. Most importantly, I met some fun people who made the week a jaunty adventure rather than seven days of reading in coffee shops. (Though that would have been alright.)
The conference was for the North American Victorian Studies Association (NAVSA), and it's a big 'un. The last time I attended was at the start of my second year, and it was maybe my second conference ever. I didn't know anyone. It was awkward and uncomfortable. What a difference it makes to have academic acquaintances to bump into, and friends with whom to nosh on hors d'oeuvres at the opening reception and then slip away for dinner. I had a lot of fun. Dare I say it? I felt like I belonged. The problem with academia, of course, is that such a belonging may be cut short by the economic necessity of taking a job that is available now instead of hypothetically-maybe in a few years, if the wind blows south-southwest on a blue moon Tuesday as two albino magpies cross your path. I'm very fortunate in that I'm enjoying the editing I'm doing on the side right now, and I actually feel valued. It's good to remember that I have skills! So I try to look ahead without too much anxiety.
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| May the future be as surprisingly pleasant as a sunny October day in Scotland. |
