Thinking and Writing

     Because I love to write-need to write- thoughts and the subsequent words attached to them have always been important to me. I think this dormant need was simmering under the surface, as I spent years grading and assessing the writing of others. 

     In retrospect, how frustrating that must have been for Laura the Teacher.  That’s sort of like working at the wonderful party but not being a guest.

     I wrote , certainly, over the years I spent in a high school English classroom, but I realize now , it was primarily ORAL. I became a master of sorts in thinking ON MY FEET and having rough drafts ,on all sorts of topics ,fall from my lips.

     To add to the mix I got to say the most powerful words in teaching and egoism:

     “Write this down.”

     In my own way, I guess, I was part of that well -known oral tradition of the world’s earliest storytellers and thinkers. That makes sense. I could never find my pen anyway, and I REFUSED to wear it around my neck.

     My thinking and writing style have always felt more analytical than narrative.  I enjoy a good story , no doubt, but when I write, it feels more like ‘pondering’ than story-telling.

     I have often said that my FAVORITE job would be to sit in an office and have people stop by to ask me what I think. ON ANTHING.

     All of this thinking sometimes gets me in trouble and has the power to create complications in my life.  I have been known to do some mind-reading/mind-controlling of family members’ thinking ( which has not been as appreciated as I would have liked).  Fancy that.

     Thinking too much about people, places, and things can eventually become a little too self -directed or even self-centered .  The usual antidote is fairly simple and God , along with my mother, directed:

God and my mother: “Get up, Laura, get up.”

God and my mother: “There are dishes to do, plants to water, clothes to wash, attention to give, prayers to pray, people to call, sleeping to do, issues to face, and above all Laura, letting go to do.”

God and my mother: “Get up, Laura, get up. You can think/write about it later. We promise. Just get up.”