Vulnerability

I have been working toward publishing something on this site for months now. My lack of publishing was not due to a lack of ideas; I have plenty. There is no lack of voice. I have so much, maybe too much, to say about everything.

Yet, here I am. It has been months, and I have not penned my first post.

In a post second-day-of-school haze. It dawned on me that there has to be a parallel to what my students feel when it comes to writing.  If I, college graduate, lover of all things language, teacher of English and Reading, struggle to figuratively pick up the pen, then how much more so would my students struggle to share themselves with me. I am as much as a stranger to them as my yet to be found audience is to me.

Writing is personal. This is not a new concept to me. I am however, for the first time, truly understanding that there are different degrees of vulnerability that writing requires. This is a new type of vulnerability. I’m not writing for a grade. There is no grade to be earned. There are no rubrics. No scales. No judge. There is only jury. Once I submit, this– what is inside my head, what is typically inside is now outside. Out THERE. It will be everywhere, and there will be no taking it back. Even if no single pair of eyes takes a moment to view it, share it, love it, hate it, I will be out there vulnerable for the world to see.

I will carry this new understanding with me tomorrow when I go to school. When I sit to learn with them. When I see my reluctant writers, and I must reach out and say “just start writing”, it will be with a new appreciation. I will tell them of this moment. I will explain that they must be vulnerable. I will assure them that I, college graduate, lover of language, teacher of English and Reading, wrote last night, and I shared all of my grammatical errors with the world. The world kept spinning as it should, and I feel better because we are social creatures in need of sharing ourselves. We just have to be brave enough to have that special type of vulnerability.

When did you last exhibit or witness a little vulnerability? Share below in the comments!

-Shanna out!