This is the title of Kamler’s work on critical writing pedagogy, and it’s perfectly applicable to my feelings at the moment, so I borrowed it.
I wrote a personal blog that would have easily been at home here. I’ve spent the past several weeks, months, keeping my personal and professional lives separate, even though I don’t believe they ought to be. Today’s post, about finding my voice and purpose as a writer, is indeed part of my professional growth. I feel such forced choices, imposed boundaries between the personal and professional are unhelpful at best and detrimental at worst.
I chose to write the entry on the “personal” side because the topic is all about me – my life. My work as a writer these days is to break through the barriers that prevent me from actually doing the writing. In order to break through those barriers, I have to recognize them, and name them. My process, then, is to write about writing and in so doing, dismantle the blocks that have hindered me thus far.
Artificially, because the writing is all about “me,” it is personal rather than professional. But how I view the world, and my experiences in the world all help to form my theories of the world. These theories shape the way I write, teach, and work. Whether they are tacit or explicit, my theories impact my practice. And there’s how the personal and the professional remain so intimately intertwined.
Rather than post the entry both places, I’ll just link to it here. I do expect I’ll do more of this rebellious personal/professional risk taking. My ideal work environment is one in which I am able to be authentically me, and work with others as we push forward and grow together. In that regard, I’m tired of splitting work me from non-work me. It’s all me.
Here’s to bridging gaps. They Will Find You.
*Note: This post and the one to which it links were originally hosted on two separate blogs. One blog was “professional” and the other “personal.” I have since merged all posts into this blog.