For the weekend homework, I focused on four discourse communities of mine. The way I communicate with my daughter, Jane. The way I communicate as a teacher (my Mrs. B identity). The way I communicate with a church group I’m apart of (the Neighborhood Life Committee). And the way I communicate in my professional setting (the University of Mississippi Writing Project).
What I notice that I’m proud of in the way I communicate is that I really try and capture some of Jane’s moments in writing, either through blogging, my HuffPost work, or through journaling/emailing her “future self.” Of course, we also share notes (Jane can’t write yet, but we draw pics and leave them in funny places). She has something drawn for me almost every day, and I always put it on the fridge or in a prominent place. One of my favorite things I do to communicate with Jane’s “adult” self is keeping a journal to her. I started it about a year before I got pregnant, when I’d first started thinking about motherhood. I can’t wait to give it to her years from now so that she can see this realistic side of being a woman and starting a family.
What I notice that’s problematic about the way I communicate is that I rarely interact with UMWP or NBL unless I have a specific role to play. Life gets to busy, and there is far more going on in these two committees than I can be apart of with working and taking care of my kiddo. So I’ll sign up every once in a while for a job (VBS in the summer, Transitioning Symposium, the All Saints Christmas Dinner), and I feel good about those things, but I avoid all else. It makes me question whether or not my heart is really into the work or whether or not I just see my committee work as a “social obligation.”
Overall, I’m a writer, so I think communication is sorta built into my identity in a way that it may not be for other people. I love to talk. I love to write. I love to write about talking. I love to talk about writing.