melthesmell,+a.k.a.+melisa+posey

//Shame in Academic Writing - Rachel Toor//

I hate to admit to this, but it was good to hear that tenured professors, with books published, struggle with their writing too. I wasn't happy about her pain, but I was happy to find out that my pain was shared. Although, I'm not so sure that my writing is nearly as phenomenal as hers is or important...

// [|10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly - Michael C. Munger] //

"Writing can be magic, if you give yourself time, because you can produce in the mind of some other person, distant from you in space or even time, an image of the ideas that exist in only your mind at this one instant."

"When you are actually writing, and working as hard as you should be if you want to succeed, you will feel inadequate, stupid, and tired. If you don't feel like that, then you aren't working hard enough."

This article is amazing. There is a huge distance between the writer that I am today and the writer that I hope to become. The ideas in this article help me to understand writing as a commitment to struggle and get better, rather than it just being a god-given talent (still kinda believe this for some folks - but maybe I am being naive and dismissing the hard work and dedication that they have put forth to get to where they are???). I really appreciated #7. I'm going to go through my calendar today and rearrange my schedule to prioritize my writing. I totally do what the author suggests is improper. :(

=Self-Care= I chose three particular websites for this week, that share perspectives on self-care and saying 'no' to people. I know that I struggle with this. I quite literally, do not have time to myself between work, school, kids, and organization commitments. But after reading through these sites, I am going to make a promise that is set in stone to devote time to myself everyday to simply scratch my butt while I lay on the floor if I want to (I might need to cover myself up with a blanket if this happens while I'm at work [our room is unusually chilly]). I think that this is important as writers in academia because some of us might be perfectionists, working on a project every available second that we have before we must let it go and hand it over. Also, some of us may be so highly-functioning in that we take on too many things at any given moment, causing our brains to want to burst from multi-tasking. So, in the midst of all the academic writing that we must do, I want to encourage us to heed the inner voice of our souls and to realize when our bodies and brains need a break too. Enjoy!

A Black Academic Woman's Self-Care Manifesto

[|Crunk Feminist Collective: How to Say No...And When to Say Yes!] I can personally attest to the fact that these women are the SHIIIIT!!!

[|American Psychological Association: Who Cares?]