One of my favorite things to do is to collect the fresh green leaves off of the basil plant that finds its home on our little balcony. With the fall officially here I did a big “harvest” the other day, making sure to take advantage of the growth before it was too late. Seeing all of the leaves together in my bowl, instead of spaciously displayed on the stock, showed me that we had so much more than I thought. It was a great surprise!
What if we thought of the pages of our writing like I did these beautiful basil leaves? If we looked at them all together, would we be surprised by all of the work we had done so far this semester?
I tried it and - YES! - I was delighted to find that I had done more than I remembered! I thumbed through my old notebook and my new notebook; I put together in a binder all of the transcriptions I had typed from the interviews I am conducting for my research, and the summaries I had composed about them; I gathered all of the scraps of paper I had written on and the drafts I have been revising. I couldn’t believe it – there was so much! And, in addition to realizing how much work I had done, it was fun to read through things and see how my thoughts have evolved over the past few months. What a great self-esteem boost!
So, here’s what I want you to do:
1. Pull your work out of the corners where it is hiding – in filing cabinets, on bookshelves, in bags, etc.
2. Gather all of your exploratory writing – journals, notebooks, loose-leaf paper, etc.
3. Place all of your work on the floor (neatly).
4. Place a pillow near all of your work, sit down and make yourself comfortable.
5. Take a deep breath and look through everything you’ve done. Find yourself engulfed – both physically and metaphorically – in your work.
6. Take another deep breath and BE PROUD OF YOURSELF.
7. Put everything back where it belongs!
In writing intensive classes we do a lot of informal writing that we may forget about, or we may not see how it connects to the bigger picture. When we do an exercise like this, however, we see just how much writing we have done, how our ideas have grown, shifted, or become clearer, and how this has helped point us in the direction of our more formal pieces.
Just like I turned the basil leaves into pesto, let’s turn all of our great work into amazing finished pieces.
If you have any questions or suggestions or if you just want to say “hi” please leave a comment. I look forward to hearing from you!
Happy writing…
2 comments:
My problem is having enough time! The pages go on the floor, and then I run out the door, and then I have a big mess! But when I do have enough time, it's a great way to get everything together. -Jason.
Jason -
I understand your problem! Many days I also feel like there is not enough time. My suggestion to you is to wake up 30 minutes early one day and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while you do this. That way you (hopefully) won't feel rushed, and you will start your day feeling good about your accomplishments! Good luck!
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