I haven’t posted a blog post since the first week of term, three weeks ago. My first instinct was to apologise here, but I’m not doing that. Instead, a brief explanation:
I have high expectations for myself, and I tend towards taking on more than I can handle. When the term started, I thought that I could post regularly on my blog, send a weekly newsletter, write for two sites 1-2 times a month, work 20 hours a week on campus, and get all of my homework done. That’s been much harder than I anticipated, particularly with the heavy amount of reading: some 500+ pages per week.
This week, my Audre Lorde class shifted from her memoir Zami to her poetry. Sunday, as I read, I felt amazing, happy and calm and still, and I realised that I hadn’t felt that way in weeks. When I got home, I shuffled one of my tarot decks and drew three cards: the 4 of Swords, Strength, and the 4 of Cups, which reflected some things that had been on my mind that morning. I set several intentions for my week:
- I will listen to my body and its needs, instead of pushing for more than I can handle
- I will set boundaries and protect my need for nurturing space and quiet
- I will let my friends and loved ones know I value them
I also posted to Facebook my gratitude for the day: being moved by beautiful poetry that speaks to that which is my ancestors in me. I have struggled to act with my intentions in mind, but I will keep them with me. And having set them inspired me to talk to one of my professors about my time crunch, and get some clarity on where I can focus, which frees me from a piece of anxiety that has been building.
Going forward, I hope to keep writing a gratitude in my planner each day. I hope to get caught up on my homework. I hope to spend more time with friends, which I know is a source of energy renewal for me. I hope to reassert my self-imposed boundaries around protecting my sleep time, so that I can be better rested. I may do all of these things, or I may not. But that’s to come; for now, I am simply determined to ease up on myself. My high expectations are holding me back, exhausting me… so I need to let them go.
What this means is that I may post to this blog every week, or I may miss a week or two. I may send a newsletter out each week, or I may miss some. I don’t want this to be a space of anxiety for me—I like sharing this space with the folks who’ve connected with me here and on other platforms, and dashing out posts for the sake of making them is a disservice to you all and myself. I want this to be a community: reflective, caring. I need to be realistic about my own limits, so that this space is the best it can possibly be.
Thank you for being here and sharing space with me. I hope you know that I appreciate you.
See you next week—maybe.
Tessara Dudley, Poet-Publisher-Educator-Activist 
You have the solution. Quantity does not equal quality and if you have nothing to say, or no time in which to say it, say nothing! These blogs are a sort of discipline, maybe, but I certainly don’t make weekly contributions. I’d never get anything else done!
Yeah, I think I got intimidated by folks with regular posting schedules, and felt like I had to have one. And having deadlines and schedules is helpful in remembering what I want to work on and when, because I can be a little scattered sometimes. But I think the most important thing for me is making sure it’s fun and not a chore to be avoided. The rest may come later.