Before & After

Before I moved to the woods in the Natural State, I was a college professor in California, a very active one. My typical day consisted of teaching and driving. I was teaching three classes, three hours each, every day, at three different colleges, and the total commute time between each college and home added to about four to five hours a day. I left the house at 6:30am and got home at 10pm, but I also returned home after each job to take the dogs out and give them something to eat, little treats during the day and a meal in the evening. I felt guilty every time I left the dogs, but it was inevitable. When I got home at 10pm, I spent every minute with the dogs: no work, no phone. After their evening walk, we wrestled and played, and then we went to bed together.

Now, living in the woods, I tutor a few students online, working no more than an hour a day. I also do some proofreading when I get an assignment. In between these jobs, I read, write, cook, clean, mow and treat the lawn, and watch movies. I go to town once a week to buy groceries and pay a visit to the library, where I borrow lots of books and movies. I'm never apart from the dogs. They are always with me, everywhere I go. I only leave them inside the cabin when I need to mow the lawn because they'll get in front of the mower and it's not safe. When I go out to mow the lawn, I see their three little heads in the window frame watching me through the screen. If I leave their range of sight, the three of them start howling like little wolves and they only stop when I reappear, and this goes on until I've finished the whole area around the cabin.

Being a workaholic, I loved my active life in California. My schedule was set for me, but I loved teaching and I enjoyed every minute of my job. Reading a book for pleasure only happened in the form of listening to it during my commute, though, and all the rest of my time outside the classroom was spent planning lessons and grading papers. I never had enough time to sit down and write. I could only write if I stole five minutes here and ten minutes there from my very busy schedule.

Now, I have my own schedule. I don't have to feel guilty anymore; I can spend all my time with my dogs. Also, I'm glad I have time to read all the books I want, and I can set aside a couple of hours to sit down and write every day. It's a completely new way of living for me, and it took me a whole year to get used to it, but looking back, I realize that, since I moved out here, I have read more than a hundred books and I'm close to finishing the first draft of my book that seemed interminable before. I make time to do all the things my previous lifestyle didn't allow me to do, and I do everything when I want. I'm enjoying every minute of my new life and feeling grateful.