Learning from Nature
The leaves are beginning to turn burgundy and gold. A few strays have already blown into my garden and across the driveway, harbingers of what is to come. After a summer of writing and traveling, I am back to my many responsibilities in my varied and ever-changing career. My classes are wonderful, filled with creative and willing students who want an opportunity to be heard. I hope to help them to see learning not as something static but as an opportunity to move forward and find relevance. These are hard times for many. The economy isn’t improving fast enough. Students are stressed by all the debt they are incurring to get an education that won’t always yield a job. Still there will always be a place for innovators. I love teaching critical and creative thinking because I think it is paramount students understand how the world and the workplace has changed. There isn’t a place for passive thinkers. The workers of the future will be able to multi-task and won’t be afraid to come up with outrageous ideas. They will bring passion to the table. I feel privileged to help students explore the different ways in which a person can approach a task. In writing, I strive to take risks, write out of my comfort zone. Working on a novel this summer was challenging. There were many narrative voices I had to keep in my head. I found I loved the process. After a while, the characters spoke to me and they would let me know if I was doing it wrong. Though I’ve been a poet for a long time, writing fiction is an entirely different venture. These new challenges keep me from stagnating as a writer. As we hunker down for the colder weather here in New England, may we also take the time to bring the same changes to our creativity. We’re fond of saying if you don’t like the weather here, wait a minute. If you don’t like the way your life is going, wait a minute–or better yet, change it. Walk a different route. Eat something you’ve never before tried. Try to learn a language or an instrument. Write as if your life depended upon it. Don’t be afraid of darkness. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining/show me the glint of light on broken glass.” (Anton Checkhov) I will also try.
Literary Imaginings by Lisa C. Taylor 