February 26th, 2025
It’s only a week until spring break (holy cow!), so I thought I’d write another school update for anybody who wants to read it.
This is a good one. Grab a cup of coffee or hot cocoa (it’s on me) and let’s chat for a minute.
So: I haven’t quit! Honest! And I don’t know if I’ve ever been busier in my life. I’m taking six classes this semester; I’m still president of the Creative Arts & Writing Club (we’re going to the Guthrie in April!); I’m now a member of Phi Theta Kappa; I’m a Togetherall Trained Peer, which is an anonymous service to help students with their mental health; I’ve been doing graphic design work for my friend, Mark, and St. Francis Health Services; and I’m still serving, supervising, and doing the social media at Gary’s. It’s a little overwhelming at moments!
I’m also writing several books, short stories, and working on music. And I have a fun thing coming up in May that I’ll announce soon. I’m also obsessed with Severance, Yellowjackets, Paradise, and Invincible, so hit me up if you’re watching those, too. And once in a while I sleep, kind of.
There was a course last semester and a course this semester where I am constantly saying to myself: “All adults should have to take this class.”
Last semester, it was Environmental Science. You learn quickly that most people around you don’t know shit about the environment (unless you’re, like, an environmental lawyer or something, in which case, slay); I’m a person who thinks about Captain Planet all the time and reads several climate newsletters every day and was still amazed at how much I didn’t know I didn’t know. If we were an environmentally literate population, this planet would be a remarkably better place. It breaks my heart that Americans in general have abandoned science and continue to ignore the inherent love we have for this world, and I think requiring adults to learn about our shared home would be a big step in the right direction.
This semester, it’s a class called Interpersonal Communication. It’s all about reflection and connection. And the discussion boards are full of people sharing everything about themselves: their misconceptions, their mistakes, and their flaws, along with their strengths, their thoughts, their feelings, and the parts of themselves they know they want to work on.
It’s nothing less than extraordinary. It’s the kind of wild experience I usually only find in rooms of people just like me, with the specific kind of problem I have.
And I am convinced that if we all did this, talked to each other about what really matters, how we’re feeling and what we need and what we’ve done wrong and how we can fix it, then we could rebuild humanity from the ashes of the internet and politics and know what it is to be good friends, neighbors, and a healthy global community.
It’s all a delicious cocktail of self-awareness and education, of which I can’t get enough and gives me an effervescent buzz of hope in an increasingly hopeless place.
Anyway: that’s my life right now. It’s kind of crazy. I love it. I love design! I love learning! I know that this insanity won’t be forever. And I hope you’re well! Feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you’ve been up to. Like I said, I’ve been busy, but I’m never too busy for you, people of the internet!
Now go touch some grass and learn something about it, too.
The Den 