All in a day's work . . .

Hey. 

I missed a blog post last week. Blame it on the 'official work' of preparing reports😏😕😕 and et al. It was as though all the sap of creativity was lost in the process of writing report after report. It was as if I had forgotten that writing is about expressing oneself... now, when I look back on the past week, I realise that it was one of the most enjoyable parts of my profession. 

    As a facilitator (that's my fav expression to describe myself as a professional😄), I do sincerely try not to 'teach' but to 'present' and 'discuss'; whether I am successful or not, time and 'learners' will tell. I have been experimenting with it for the past, say, one and a half decades. Yeah, sometimes I see that I have succeeded in 'facilitating', but I know sometimes I fail miserably. I cry, 'I fall on the thorn of teaching, I bleed, Lift me O Indigenous methods'(with due apologies to P.B. Shelley, Ode to the West Wind). The creativity part is in the choice of the methodology of involving young minds in the so-called world of 'serious literary discussion'. Personally, I paraphrase it to mean 'talk using the fanciest of dictionary vocabulary that nobody understands what it is all about!!' On a serious note, how to engage a young mind that is absorbing their contemporary, immediate world into a literary text that is rooted in a different age, ethos and seems far removed from the present-day concerns and realities? One does get used to these complicated situations, and so, creative solutions are imperative. 

     Thus situated, writing reports seemed a herculean task--(read)mundane, banal and concocted!! But the actual writing and submitting has been quite empowering to me personally. The word 'Official' itself is an 'unnerving' word for me. It could have a similar effect on many of us who are (mostly) either in the emotional world or in the literary textual world. The past two weeks have helped me bridge the gap in my own response to the two seemingly diametrically opposite demands of the profession. 'Mastering'(only now do I realise what a patriarchal binary it is, and that 'mistressing' rhymes perfectly with 'distressing'😅😅)Through this 'art of report submission' have learnt one another life skill, or should I say, another facet to the much-acclaimed notion of 'self-confidence'. Be it whatever, it was yet another opportunity to learn, to come face-to-face with my 'self'. Just as reassuring as it gets--thank god! I have not turned into a teacher!!' 

          

Do share your 'teacher' tantrums 😅😅 👇