Confessions of a Closet Writer

I am honored that Mr. T. asked me to be a guest blogger this week.  I have gone back and read through your site and I am thrilled to see such wonderful and insightful posts from MCHS students.  Reading this blog makes me excited to be a teacher and encourages me to continue moving forward in this profession.  After many years of teaching, it is great to still say this. 

I will be posting a couple of poems that I have written.  I have a confession; I am a closet writer.  When I was much younger (before computers) I used to keep a hand written journal and write when the world seemed too much for me to handle.  It allowed me to sort out my ideas and realize that life is not so bad and that I could find solutions to even the worst problems. Most of this writing is gone, but the few pieces that I have kept bring up great emotions when I find them.  After taking a poetry class, I began to journal less and write free verse more.  I feel as though it is easier to bring emotion into my writing by using fewer words.  In my opinion, good writing entices emotions. 

These two poems are on the same theme, hanging wet clothes on a line to dry, something you probably have never experienced.  I was raised by parents who were children during the Great Depression.  No one wasted anything in our home and this philosophy was even more pronounced in my grandparents’ homes.  As a girl, I hated hanging clothes but as an adult I started hanging clothes for the same reason my mother did – it saves money.  The sun and the air are free; electricity is not!  At this point in my life, hanging clothes is less about the savings and more about my feelings.

I hope you do things in your life that bring you joy, not because you have to, not because you are told to, not because it brings joy to others, but because it brings joy to you.  Remember, even the mundane and simple can bring joy and a life without joy is not much of a life.  I do hope you feel my joy when reading these poems.

Guest Writer: Ms. K.

Hanging Clothes

No one hangs clothes anymore.

It takes too long.

It is not esthetically pleasing in the back yard.

It makes the jeans too stiff.

I hang clothes.

I find joy

in watching my children play in the sandbox

   while their little socks dance in the breeze.

I find joy

in slowing down

   and smelling the spring earth.

I find joy

in feeling the outside around me

   when I fall asleep.

I find joy

   in hanging clothes

Clothes on the Line

Socks and Underwear on one Line.

Towels on the Next.

Sheets on the Third.

Jeans on the Fourth.

Clothes on the Line.

Order out of Chaos.

The Hunger Games

So the Hunger Games just came out today and I saw it at the midnight showing. I absolutely LOVED it. It made me think about what it would be like to live in a world like that. Never to go into the forest or leave the little city, or "district". What if we were all stuck here in Channahon? To be trapped behind fences and guarded 24/7, and to know you have a yearly chance to die and possibly be pitted against your best friend. Imagine that you were picked to go to the Hunger Games, against your best friend of the opposite gender. You both are very skilled in huntung and survival and know you can win. It comes down to you and your friend. One of you is going to die and one gets to go home. What would you do? Would you take the life of your BEST friend to go home? I wanna hear what you guys would do in this situation. (no copying what they did in the book!!!) I can't wait to hear your ideas! 

Dedication Declaration

"My goal is to be one with the music. I just dedicate my whole life to this art."
-Jimi Hendrix

I picked this quote specifically to ask you a question I will get to soon enough. First, however, I would like to say this:

I LOVE music. Music has engulfed almost my whole soul, by now. But it also has to share. It shares my soul with drawing, writing, and this little thing called love. I have dedicated practically my whole physical life to this art, just as Jimi Hendrix said about a week before he died. When I pick up a guitar, I cannot help but play. And so I play anything, anything at all. Playing a simple little lick in the presence of others makes me giddy. I love sharing my passions with people. And this is one of the many.

Music literally saves lives. So what do you think I want to do with it? The same exact thing. It takes extraordinary talent and perseverance to give back to the world, but I believe with the help of others, we could pull it off. Dedication is a strong word; do you think you have what it takes to pull off the seemingly impossible?

My REAL question to you is this, my fellow writing buddies: what do you dedicate your life to? You don't have to know your career to know your passion. And don't just tell me what your passion is-- Tell me why. Tell me what makes it so special to you; tell me what you want to do with it when you get older. Your passion is your weapon: wield it wisely.

do you love it enough?

"Do what you love; you'll be better at it. It sounds pretty simple, but you'd be surprised how many people don't get this one right away." -LL Cool J
Everyone in this class either loves to draw, Write, or play some type of sport that no matter whats going on in youre life it helps you with your composure.  What would you do if the people around you kept telling you to stop and start doing something else that they personally enjoyed?  Would you actually drop everything that saves you from going insaine just to make the people around you happy?  How about for the sports if your body just cant take it and you know that doing something else will make you physically feel better, would you give it up then? 
In the quote above he says that if youre doing what you love you will be better at it but how would you take the meaning of that sentence if you have no confidence in what you do?  Some of you guys in this room that take part in something they love they have confidence in it, in your self, but alot of us dont. What would you do to take your dreams to the top while people around you are telling you to give up what has become your life will you stay strong and stick to your imbitions in life? 
I guess what im trying to ask is do you love it enough to keep going or would you create a new begining?
(I know that through out this whole post I said 'it' and if there was one thing that you were thinking about the whole time that is the thing that i want to know if you are willing to give up for someone else.)

It's Up To You

Ok, so in my quest to try and figure out what I wanted to say I literally racked my brain for inspiration. I conjured up the most thought provoking questions that my noggin had to offer. What is the meaning of life? Who has inspired you? If you were in your last hours of existence how would you live them? All good questions, nonetheless, but deeply thinking about a question that cannot scientifically or spiritually be answered just isn't my cup of tea. However, my cup of tea is filled to the brim with great writing.

So for this blog post we will simply write. We will collectively create a story with whatever WE want. Every new post will be a new twist to the story. I will start with the first part of the story and you all will add to it. Then, once everyone has posted we can watch our drama unfold. All I ask is that you keep a cohesive aspect to the story. I also ask that you be as creative and whimsical as you please! So this is a challenge to you all to add sugar, honey and maybe even stir furiously to make the boring cup of tea a lot more concentrated. So, here is the beginning to the story...

P.S.   “All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.” — Albert Camus
 “A truly creative person rids him or herself of all self-imposed limitations.” — Gerald G. Jampolsky

Heavy on her shoulders Meera carries the burdens of the world. Evey new worry strikes her soul and deepens her emotional black hole. No one can possibly understand what she has seen, only in Paradise which she dreams. Paradise, a place where the hatchet is buried deep into the luscious sand. A place where worries are the least and happiness prevails. The air is sweet with the scent of pure imagination. Every night Meera lays her dark locks on her pillow hoping that she will go to Paradise. When her eyes open she is there but only for a while...