Monday, September 10, 2007

Who Am I?

This question was inevitable. I set out in my studies hoping to avoid specialization long enough to figure out what I wanted to spend my time doing. I've done lots of things, but gravitated to particular literary eras (British Romanticism and Modernism), specific interests (rhetoric, religion, technology, pedagogy), and a few favorite writers (Austen, K. Burke, Auden, Yeats). Now, as I survey the job market landscape, I find myself in three places at once, seeking a home where I can flourish, a place to thrive. After years of sharing space, I want a room of my own.

The thing is, I still don't really want to be in a little pigeonhole. I like some breathing room, a feeling that I can wander down paths of interest instead of marching down corridors devised in years past. I started thinking today about books; what would I write about, if I could make a choice? What book is inside me?

Not a lot of time for discernment; the market calls, and my CV is ready. Still, a day or two of contemplation won't hurt, will it?