Where have I been?

The last post to this page was well over a month two months ago.    I always tend to slack off once the semester is in full swing.  Between classes, teaching, performing, working and life I just run out of time.  However, the past few months it isn't that I haven't been writing, it's that I've just not been writing publicly.

I've spent many hours doing some old fashioned style journaling with pen and paper.  I've kept a journal pretty regularly since the fourth grade.  I don't have all of them as I have developed a habit of purging them every few years (I burn them) but I have come to rely upon writing long hand as a way of processing things that are going in my life.  Blogging, while wonderful and cathartic in its own way, does not provide the same sort of "working through" that old school journaling does...at least not for me.

And I've had a lot to write about.  My life has changed immensely in the past few months.  My creative world has been in upheaval (though finally settling).  I've been working towards raising funds for my Semester at Sea journey and that too finally seems to be coming to fruition.  Mostly though I've been doing a lot of what you'd call personal work.

It's been a rather self reflective, inwardly directed couple of months which, as life always seems to have a sense of humor with timing, has occurred during a period of time when I've had to be rather extroverted in order to manage things like school, performing and teaching.  It has been a lesson in exhaustion and balance. 

In any case.  I'm finally feeling ready to write publicly again so you can expect at least weekly posts.  I also have one bit of other news.  I will be writing in this blog under my own name, Joie.  I already link this blog to my creative page and though I enhoyed the anonymity, Jane was never really meant to be a pen name but more a prepresentation of all women who are choosing their own path.

Here's to a happy summer of blogging!!!