Time Away

Hi. I'm Amanda. Welcome to the new iteration of my Closer to Home project. A couple of years ago, you would have known me as the documentarian who was working on a small house with her partner in Steinbeck country. Time and circumstance changed all that, and I needed time away from the Small House Movement to find my place again as a One instead of a Two. At that time, I was very involved and was writing for the Small Living Journal. However, the SLJ too eventually became silent, and those of us involved were so busy with other things that we mostly let it. I was busy with marginal employment and a long commute between Santa Cruz and Saratoga every day, teaching English grammar and writing classes to students in 4th-7th grades, trying to stay salient in the California economy and failing. I was also busy applying to graduate schools for an MFA in creative writing, because I knew I wanted to teach and that I needed a higher degree and experience. And I got into one! At Vanderbilt studying poetry. But I also knew that we could take nonfiction writing classes here, so that's where I am now. In my second semester at graduate school, I've found my way back to small-housers. And I am so glad that I have.