At the end of February, I had fun presenting some of my research about climate ethics at conferences in Atlanta and in Chicago. And I was looking forward to writing a post about those conferences …

And then in early March, COVID-19 threw a wrench in the works. Surprise! I got busy adjusting to online teaching, trying to support my students in a really challenging time, not getting to swim regularly anymore, processing my heightened emotions regarding all sorts of vulnerable people, trying to figure out how best to use my resources in a changing world, and on and on and on.

Every so often, I would imagine myself coming up with something really great to post here. But what kind of “great” was even the right one to aim for? Something clever? Useful? Inspiring? Thought-provoking? Motivating? Cathartic? Darkly humorous? And if I could, for a moment, settle on one of those, how was I to meet that standard in such momentous times?

So I didn’t write here for a while, which is not so unusual for me. But this time, it was because I was letting the hope of perfection prevent me from taking any steps toward my goal. And given all the times I’ve advised students not to do that, I decided to just post something, to just get my first post of the coronavirus era over and done with. The new, replacement hope is that by posting this, I’ll get over the mental hurdle and pave the way for more posts in the future.

(Probably book reviews.)