It's all Greek

Dear You,

It can't have been many years into my teaching career when I realized the job was essentially Sisyphean -- in one of the courses, for example, I'd start with The Scarlet Letter and progress through the year to The Great Gatsby. Year after year, never believing I'd ever reach the top with these boulders of knowledge. Year after year, starting over at the bottom.

So it was with every aspect of my duties. Is "alot" a word or two? Why is it funny to write after the death of a beloved pet that "I balled all night"? Which is used in this context: IT'S or ITS?

Soon it will be a decade since I sought to engage my students in these questions, and life now seems less Sisyphus than Tantalus. I'm up to my neck in possessions and people and prospects for ways to spend my time every day I awaken. My calendar is full, my bank account never quite emptied at the end of each month. Yet I sense something always out of reach. Even were I to stoop to seek a sip of it, I understand I will not slake my thirst.

Okay, life is a quest. But where am I headed here?