If this is late July, my day job is starting again soon.
I'm probably one of the few public school teachers who went into the profession for the money. At the time my comic strip, Sibling Revelry, was folding and I needed steady income, so I went back to school and got my teaching certificate. Teaching is hard work, and had I sales enough, I'd rather spend my time writing, and yet...
Every year, about this time, I begin dreaming of being back at work. Not bad dreams, like the horrible dread of the final exam you were supposed to take that somehow you forgot to show up for, and not particularly good either. Just ordinary work-a-day stuff: planning, instructing, grading. When I have those dreams I realize I'm unconciously looking forward to going back to work.
Teachers bellyache all the time, but the truth is, teaching actually is very fulfilling work. I've even wondered if my wish came true, and the fairy-angel of literary success waved her wand over me, would that be enough? Wouldn't I want to keep teaching, at least part time, to meet this strange desire I have to teach?
Last night, I dreamt about setting up the creative writing class I'll teach this fall, and the way I'll use the internet to give students their outside reading. I woke up this morning with a pleasant sensation, yes, that's just the way I'll do it.
It's time to go back to work.
