What's the first day of the year for you? For me, it's not January 1st--it's never been, really. The first day of the year for me is September 7th, or 4th, 6th, or whatever day school starts that year.
My life has always been about school. Really, I've been in school for 43 years now. I went to school until I was 26 and then I've taught for the last 23. Basically I love school.
I love school because I love to learn. I love to be taught things. I love to discover something I've never known before. And then I love to take what I've learned and find a way to teach it to other people.
About 15 years ago, I switched to teaching part-time so that I could try out some other careers. I ran a petting farm for a while, I tried my hand at freelance writing, I became a New Age healer and a psychic. No kidding.
But you know what happened? Once I learned how to do those things, I started teaching other people how to do them! I even started teaching people how to be a psychic. It doesn't matter what I do, I can't stop myself from teaching.
The thing is, when I have to teach something, I have to learn it in a whole new way, and so I get to learn even more. Really, even teaching is about learning.
The Japanese writer Aiko Morita once said that "curiosity is the key to creativity." And that is so true for me. Teaching is a creative outlet for me. The more I teach, the more I learn: the more I learn, the more I create.
It's a fabulous circle. And I love to go around and around.
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Hi Ms Stronach. I am writing another "short" story about the same characters! wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!! Have fun and surprise yourself!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a first day of the year Ms. Stronach. Years don't leave much of a mark on me. I'm more aware of the seasons than the years. And I've found myself teaching too. It's weird, I'm not the smartest kid in the class, but lots of people come and ask me to explain something to them or to help them with a project. It's strange. I don't mind circles, but they tend to dizy me after a while. I prefer a forest path, sometimes straight, most times not. It's more fun that way, rather than going around and around and around.
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