Today was a lovely, sunny day. It was cold in the morning, but the afternoon it was warm enough to work outside without a coat. The work I did was weeding. Aside from ending up with a tired back and hips, it is satisfying because I can see my own progress. When I started weeding there were unwanted green shoots blanketing our back courtyard and garden pots. After an hour or two only a third is left overgrown (it will stay that way until later in the week when I have time to tackle it).
Unlike most teaching, weeding has measurable, immediately obvious results. This feedback makes the soreness worth it. Writing is somewhere between teaching and weeding in terms of feedback: I can see words being generated, filling the page, but I don't know their quality or worth until I go through the long process of submitting them for publication. I think it's good to have a balance of external reinforcement of effort and internal self-motivation.
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