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!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

winning..

whats it mean to win?

im competitive in nature.  i dont mind losing.. but winning is a thrill.. a mini adrenaline rush.. 
just dont play me in monopoly.  i hate that game.  but if you wanna play, i will..  just be warned, game pieces and monies will fly across the room at any given moment in time.  im also a cutthroat euchre player..  it's the only game i am superstitious about.. i wont play unless the partner and i are sitting in the right position.. we will never lose if we are sitting facing each other in the direction the bathtub faces.  dont ask.. its a quirk, and it works.

i remember the first time i won NATS
i had placed third my freshman year in college
then my sophomore year i was sick and goofed off the whole night before in the hotel (grins) and didnt place at all
then i transferred over to WCC my junior year.. where i was surrounded with others who had tremendous musical talent
i remember finding the audition room that morning and seeing the list of over 25 students singing in my category.  i stuck my ear to the door and heard the first audition.. and was intimidated as hell. 
my time came.. i went in.. not defeated.. just without a care
i remember hearing whispers when i left the room
3 hours later, im sitting in the back of the chapel where the winners concert and awards were about to take place.  goofing off with a friend, not even paying attention. 

JUNIOR MEN division.. FIRST PLACE.. my name is called
but im still goofing off and not paying attention.
they call my name again.  my friend is sitting there staring at me wide-eyed.

what?

get the hell up there and take your prize!

WHAT?

i stand, look around baffled, and jog to the front of the chapel with a huge grin on my face.
that moment set the tone for my entire career.
it was affirmation that i was on the right track..
and i started taking myself more seriously.. just a little

this weekend, my students embark on the same journey i began so long ago.  i tell them it isnt about winning.  its about the experience.. the feedback.. the opportunity.

but winning sure would be nice. ;)




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