What are you DOING?

I enjoy quotes and poems. They are often short, concise, and make you think. Of course there are longer poems and less than appealing quotes BUT this is the beauty of writing. For me, the tidbit and morsel offered through a quote, haiku, or short poem make me think. I like to nugget and to reflect, ponder, and process the deeper meaning. 

The best part, the meaning I take away may not be the author's intention yet it's the way I internalized and personalized it. As an English and writing major in college, many a professor told me "That is not what the poet/author meant." It irritated me, and still does because only the author knows what they meant. 

As individuals with different pasts, education levels, and locations, we can read the same passage and take away something totally different. I only had one professor in four years who challenged us to read the 3 1/2 inch thick literature text book and write papers about different passages, poems, and essays from our perspective and what we believe the author was telling us. After we submitted our assignments, he would teach and share what scholars believe the true meaning and purpose was. There would be some in the class who said, "Yes, I got it." and others, like me, who thought, "Missed that by 100 yards." BUT the professor required we provide supporting information of WHY we interpreted the passage the way we did. 

This is the best part of the lesson, after his lesson, we had the option to take our paper back and rewrite it after the day's lesson. I enjoyed this method of teaching and if I ever opt to be an adjunct professor, I'd mirror his methods because he didn't just teach us about literature, he encouraged us to think, challenge the norms, and offered us the opportunity to change our minds.  Isn't this what we are called to do?  To think for ourselves, learn new information and process it, then mold it into a beneficial piece of knowledge to help us be better?

Today's quote resonated with me, I won't share why but instead, I encourage you to think about it for a bit. Read it aloud. Write it down a few times. Read it aloud again. What speaks to you? Where do you find your thoughts traveling? How does this quote speak to you? There is no right or wrong...
yourself THINK!