MFA Midpoint

Well, as hard as it is for me to believe, I’m roughly halfway through my MFA in Writing experience. I’ve sent my final packet of my second semester off to my mentor and am eagerly awaiting her feedback. And, just an hour or so ago, I submitted the creative nonfiction (an excerpt from a memoir in progress) that will be workshopped at May’s residency session at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

In the past year of being enrolled in this program, I’ve produced about 400 pages of original writing (fiction and creative nonfiction) and an additional 80 -100 pages of short critical essays on 18-20 books I’ve read as part of the program. I recall that at the end of my first term, my creative nonfiction mentor, Richard Goodman (author of French Dirt and The Soul of Creative Writing), suggested that I clear off a large table or workspace and lay out all the work I’d produced during that semester. It was a great idea. It’s easy while in the midst of a program or a project or just our everyday lives, I suppose, to lose track of how much we’ve accomplished over a certain period of time. How often do we take a moment to step back and “lay out our work” so we can take a look at it, regard it, appreciate it? Not often enough, I would assert.

Life is, of course, more about the journey than it is about the destination. But even allowing that, there are milestones. And they exist, in part, at least, in order to provide a moment of repose, of reflection, of perspective, perhaps. Birthdays can be milestones, anniversaries can be milestones, and the beginnings and endings of a year or a month or a semester (or even a single day) can serve as milestones.

Taking a moment to look at how we’ve spent our time in the past x weeks or months or even years can help boost morale and/or motivation, it seems to me, especially if we find ourselves in a relative rough patch. Maybe there are heavy storms or blinding rain or conflicting passions or just too many things to be taken care of in the hours with which we’ve been allotted. We’ve all been there, Lord knows. Maybe the gutter fell off of your house or the storm drain just outside of the basement door stopped draining water or maybe half of your windows need to be replaced. Well, I hear you. I’ve just described this spring at the Russell household. It can feel, at times, overwhelming. But, it also, simply, is. What is happening is happening. All we can do is choose how to react.

So tonight I’m choosing to put aside the drain and the gutter and the windows for a moment, and celebrate that I’m halfway through my MFA. I’m on my way.

Namaste.