This isn't a post about answers. It is, in fact, less an offering of original insight and more an incorporation of someone else's insights into my own awareness. It is a query, a realization, a decision, and an experiment. And it glimmers with possibility. The brief discussion that follows is inspired by a recent reading [...]
Tag: learning
On Introspection
Beyond myself, somewhere, I wait for my arrival. —Ocativo Paz I’ve always been an introspective sort. My mother occasionally likes to remind me of the time I spent as a child perched on the edge of my bed, reading whatever material I could get my hands on and subsequently reflecting on those readings for hours. [...]
On Being Your Own Teacher
I don’t know how many people practice autodidacticism, or self-education, or even if the notion of acting as one’s own teacher has widespread appeal. I do know that for some of us, though, it comes quite naturally and seems to be born of the need to satisfy a never-ending curiosity. Self-teaching is akin to breathing [...]
In the Middle
I have a difficult time conceiving of my creative and intellectual abilities, or anyone else's, in terms of distinct aptitudes. I think, instead, that our skills and proclivities are constantly evolving, unfolding, and overlapping in such an untidy fashion that, to define ourselves by a series of clear-cut abilities (and inabilities) can not be only [...]
On Choosing Your Mentors
Several years ago, when I was applying for graduate school admissions, I visited a former English professor asking for a letter of recommendation. We had a nice meeting, and during our chat, he made a remark about his students that was puzzling enough, to me, to have made an indelible impression: “All of the English [...]
For the Experimenter in All of Us
It is true that the majority of wisdom is gleaned from experience. It is also true that experience is the bitterest of all teachers. But, for those of us who can’t shake the urge to continually experiment with new ideas—to take them out into the world and “test them out” or “try them on for [...]
What Triathlon Taught Me about Creativity, Learning, & Achievement
With regard to athletics, swimming is my first love, although I never wanted to just be a swimmer. It was an affinity for cycling, which developed over the course of the last several years, that made me consider fusing my passion for swimming with other activities. That would create a whole separate challenge and a brand new way to test [...]
