New Deal

Loyola took so long in funding Margaret’s position for this year that I had prepared myself for what seemed like their probable decision to cut her budget line (it’s a tough economy, they had to find savings somewhere, etc.). Since I wasn’t counting on Margaret having a job, I felt more weightily the necessity of finding a job for myself, lest we both be unemployed next year.
 
Now that she has a secure position for next year, I’m gradually releasing the intense urgency of finding my own job. I’m not obsessively checking the “positions open” pages of academic sites. I have a couple of applications still pending, but I’m not clutching at them with desperate fervor. I’m entertaining the possibility that even if one of them makes an offer, I might decline it if their offer doesn’t cohere with a manageable marital arrangement. I can probably pick up a course or two to adjunct-teach in Baltimore, and living with your spouse matters a great deal (especially since Margaret and I have spent most of the last five years living apart).
 
I haven’t attained perfect everyday serenity, but I’m unwinding slowly. I can look with more patience on the unfolding microdrama of my place in academy and church. This, it seems, is more nearly what “healthy” looks like.

2 thoughts on “New Deal

  1. Furthermore, I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the Episcopal bishops of Baltimore and their deployment office should that come into play (Cool fact: The canon for deployment does Syriac!).

  2. This has been such a stressful period for your whole family. A blessing upon your unwinding a bit.

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