There's this hip-hop song on one of the four stations I constantly knob between on my way to and from work. It kind of reminds me of the Lost Generation for the vaguest of gut reasons. One of the lyrics from the chorus goes, "All I care about is money and the city that I'm from. / [...] / My excuse is that I'm young, and I'm only getting older."
I care demonstrably less about money than Drake or F. Scott Fitzgerald whoever it is rapping, and I'm not from a city, but for some reason it struck me.
At this point in my life I can't just care about anything (unless it's making it through the day alive--more on that later), but it's tempting to boil it all down to one thing. I am a storyteller first, a writer second, and a teacher last, but this year the three seem so intertwined so as to feel inextricable.My leadership abilities rest on my interest in the lives of others. Every good quality I possess stems from that curiosity: observation, concern, perception, empathy, assertiveness, bravery.
This year I am working with school children and youth from two of Chicago's most crime- and poverty-stricken neighborhoods, North Lawndale and Little Village. The neighborhood around the community center where I work is volatile, and the mood of the students I work with on any given day often mirrors the mood of the community. Getting them to write or to tell their stories is often a difficult task, because guardedness is security.
Writers draw from the world around them for inspiration. That inspiration having been taken, a writer owes something to the world in return. As a writer, I am a guest in the lives of others, and it would be impossibly rude to take without leaving behind some gift of my own.
Self-expression is essential to agency. To express yourself, you have to have an audience. To make yourself heard, you have to have already found your voice. In my work as a tutor and as a teacher, my primary goal has always been to help my students find their unique voice and provide them with attention and encouragement as they experiment with that voice.
Writing is a social act. However solitary the actual meeting of pen and paper or fingers and keys may be, the remainder of the journey is undertaken with others. A writer must have a variety of knowledge and interests, but they must also care deeply about certain things. I have chosen to care about my fellow travelers.
Yesterday was the National Day on Writing. On Twitter, people were encouraged to explain why they write in 140 characters or fewer. I write because there are stories I have to tell, and until I've told them I can't do anything else.
This year I am working with school children and youth from two of Chicago's most crime- and poverty-stricken neighborhoods, North Lawndale and Little Village. The neighborhood around the community center where I work is volatile, and the mood of the students I work with on any given day often mirrors the mood of the community. Getting them to write or to tell their stories is often a difficult task, because guardedness is security.
Writers draw from the world around them for inspiration. That inspiration having been taken, a writer owes something to the world in return. As a writer, I am a guest in the lives of others, and it would be impossibly rude to take without leaving behind some gift of my own.
Self-expression is essential to agency. To express yourself, you have to have an audience. To make yourself heard, you have to have already found your voice. In my work as a tutor and as a teacher, my primary goal has always been to help my students find their unique voice and provide them with attention and encouragement as they experiment with that voice.
Writing is a social act. However solitary the actual meeting of pen and paper or fingers and keys may be, the remainder of the journey is undertaken with others. A writer must have a variety of knowledge and interests, but they must also care deeply about certain things. I have chosen to care about my fellow travelers.
Yesterday was the National Day on Writing. On Twitter, people were encouraged to explain why they write in 140 characters or fewer. I write because there are stories I have to tell, and until I've told them I can't do anything else.
(Yesterday was also Big Block of Cheese Day. Let's solve all Chicago's problems by turning the map upside down.)
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