thankful

"to begin writing from our pain eventually engenders compassion
for our small and groping lives.
out of this broken state
there comes a tenderness 

for the cement below our feet 

the dried grass cracking in a terrible wind.
we can touch the things around us we once thought ugly
and see their special detail
the peeling paint and gray of shadows as they are — simply what they are:
not bad, just part of the life around us
and love this life because it is ours

and in the moment there is nothing better."

- Natalie Goldberg

as some of you may know, i also work at OCAD University making study materials for students with learning disabilities. i love this job, because it allows me to audit classes - i've learned so much, about art, design, culture, film, and writing. i've gotten much more out of my degree there than any paper could say.

this semester i'm sitting in on a creative non fiction writing class. the teacher is fantastic and excitable, motivating and inspiring. i always come out with quotations to tuck away into my sketchbook, and an itching to try out her writing exercises or apply them to my own creative process.  

right now the students are working on confessional writing. and isn't that what so much art is about? revealing something honest and true, something that is hard to say, and hard to put into words. how much to reveal, how much to keep in? this is something i always think about.