Dear friends and colleagues,
As the leaves begin to turn into the brilliant colors of fall, I wanted to share my whereabouts and musings with all of you.
I hope that summer brought you time with family, friends, and new adventures. Certainly, the possibilities for a new political future for this country have energized me once Kamala Harris and Tim Walz entered the race.
Early summer found me in Medellin, Colombia at the first ever Deeper Learning Latin America conference. I was privileged to present our book Building Democratic Schools and Learning Environments with one of my co-editors (and a former student), Gustavo Royas Ayala. The co-editorial team (Jonathan Mendoca, Gustavo and I) continue to marvel at the ways in which chapters in this book are “speaking” to various readers. Conversations about democracy and school are clearly on everyone’s mind. I hope you all will peruse some of the thirty-eight chapters and find which one(s) speak to you. Let me know. Remember, this book is free!
Summer was also a time of connection with family, watching my grandchildren learn to jump the waves in the ocean, and celebrating my daughter’s engagement. And of course, I spent time in my studio, up to my elbows in clay. Summer is an opportunity to deepen my understanding of ceramics and take advantage of intensive offerings in the area. In one workshop, Pushing Beyond the Familiar, I found myself letting go of rules that I follow in order to “let go” and play with form and function. I appreciated how the teacher made room to challenge each of us. One person wanted to throw bigger; another wanted to learn more about trimming, and I wanted to experiment with spherical forms. I practiced making closed forms, trapping the air inside, and trimming to create a sphere. When the clay was stiffer (leather hard in ceramics parlance) I rolled the form to change the directions of the spirals. Slowly, I waited for the clay to find where it wanted to crack and then a new form–a vase, a cup or a mug could emerge. It was such a delightful surprise when the crack revealed itself.
That unexpected burst of joy embodies my focal question for the year: How do we delight?
That inquiry has led me to consider other questions. Perhaps you will find some resonance.
- How do we find delight?
- How do we communicate that delight to others? What are our tools?
- What does it mean to push beyond the familiar? It’s scary if you move out to the precipice.
- Will there be anyone there to catch you?
- Will the solitude overwhelm you or will there be a teacher to guide you?
- Can making mistakes be normalized and part of learning– and not just for the test?
- How can we eradicate the fear of being made fun of?
I think it’s that fear that stops so many young people (and adults). We don’t want to appear stupid, or unprepared. So we shut down.
This year, I hope to hone my understanding of delight and surprise. Let me know your explorations, too.
Once again, I want to share my pottery with you. I’ll be participating in Cambridge Artists Open Studios (CAOS) on Saturday and Sunday, September 21 and 22nd from 12pm-6pm. Come by the studio (217 Erie Street in Cambridge) for a glass of lemonade, a chat and buy a pot for democracy–for you or a friend!
I’d love to see you,
Linda
