Blog Manifesto

Blog Manifesto


This blog is dedicated, as the title would suggest, to the qualities of being young. We are young writers. We are playful and sensitive, fluid and changing. We are unashamed with our art. We wonder at the world, puzzle over the meanings of things and twirl in delight at images and ideas that float by, grabbing at them as they pass. We are curious and constantly inquiring and prying concepts open and taking assumptions apart. We are on the ground, close to the earth. We have bare feet and wiggle our toes into nature. We carry our blankies still and wrap up cozy and comfy with each other and tell ghost stories and shiver at creepy things. We laugh and we cry and we take a lot of naps, drained from our outings and exertions.

We write as gifts to each other, tying them up in ribbon and leaving them around for each other to find, hiding and waiting for the person to wake up and read. Surprise! We weave our stories together to create a bond. One writes, then the other. then another again. We have a shared reality that we have crafted, bit by piece by patch, by string. We write simple, honest authentic things, with our unique voices. You can tell each one of us from the other, without knowing who wrote what. Our voices are clear and gentle and original. We whisper and our personalities roar! Like children, our feelings are strong, our passion for what we write shakes us. We are moved and sometimes left breathless, by our own words or the words of each other. We cannonball into each others spaces. We fall backward into each others writing, like into a pile of leaves or a soft bed. We gobble and grin and ask for more. (footnote kudos to JC)

Then we go to bed, wake up to a new day and do it all over again!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

embarrassed..

ah embarrassment..  i should be used to it.  we all should.  we all do embarrassing things.. say embarrassing things..  yet we still manage to feel the sting.

earlier i felt shame.  worked thru it a bit and now im just embarrassed.  i think i can live with it.

i have caused myself a lot of embarrassment.  and i could share a story about me..  but i want to share a story of embarrassment that taught me about the cruelty and injustice of others, about humility and compassion.

there was a girl in my gym class, my freshman year in high school.  she struggled to do all that was asked of her.  she was fairly athletic and strong for a big girl.  she struggled through volleyball, softball, running the monster, and basketball.. but then she hit an obstacle she just couldnt seem to overcome.  gymnastics.  our gym teacher was our school football coach.  a real hardass.  Jenny tried her hardest.  she tumbled clumsily, tried cartwheels, walked the balance beam with trepidation.  no one ever made fun of her.  she was such a nice girl.  and we were good friends.. even though back in third grade i had snapped her bra, and told her i could see thru her shirt.  she forgave me.

Hardass told Jenny she would be given a failing grade if she didnt complete the parallel bar routine.
He told her this in front of the entire class.
She had tears in her eyes as she walked to the parallel bars.
She reached up.. and tried with all her might to pull herself up.
He could have just given her a chair to help.
He watched her struggle.  We all did.  The hush was deafening.
She must have tried five times.. before he stepped in and said it again.. 
'You will fail if you do not complete this.'

He called out to Bob and Chris.. and instructed them to help Jenny up onto the bar. 
They pushed her up from behind.
She started to cry.
No one was doing anything.. 
I looked around.
I walked calmly over to Mr. Hardass.. and asked him to please stop.
But the damage was already done.

She flipped once over that bar..  and fell to the floor.. in a heap. 
He failed her. 

I quit the class and took summer gym with her that year.  was the best time ever.
   
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