I enjoy the personal narrative and you of all my “friends” (are we friends?, never quite sure how that works) writes so provocatively that I can’t help but read and be engaged.

I also appreciate the insights of your spiritual struggles both here and in your other posts. While I’ve not had the same types of struggles, it does help me understand better, those who have.

As always your candor and eloquence is appreciated and admired.

Interesting extension of Will’s “legacy” meme, and one I sort of pointed at by hoping out loud that others “get personal” for a spell this summer.

That “artifacts” assignment, you made me realize, was actually the seed of the 1001 Flat World Tales project I started a couple years ago. As usual, it worked to unlock only a few excellent stories from the students, but I guess that’s part of the territory when it comes to our young customers.

Let us know if you go off on any of your own legacies. I know you like to write too

Finally, I aimed to give the “Camp Joy” story a few laughs, because the view from this 46-year-old seat is a very light-hearted one (chock that up to the Taoists, above all, with a pinch of Buddhist sanity re: not freaking out over fear, desire, and death).

The funniest thing about posting this first clip was the struggle to revise out the academic voice (again, it was a college paper, as those citations show) and insert more of the personal. The results were uneven at best.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer.

Clay

I appreciate your references to Will’s ‘Blogging Legacy’ “as a piece of my brain [that] lived on, one that was able to provide for my kids a richer understanding of their histories and legacies.” I would add the blogger’s legacy is also extended to readers who have found the blog as a kindred spirit, a community of like minded people on a quest who enrich each other.

Also a class you took in which you ’select any “artifact” from our lives, write about it as a piece of our culture, and connect it to the pedagogical issues of the course.’ What a thought provoking assignment. One artifact I would write about is an aluminum wheel barrow I inherited from a 95 year old former neighbour. The wheel barrow is carrying life giving compost.

Moreover, I found your introspective account of the Camp Joy Bible so revealing of your past and philosophical pilgrimage. I am deeply moved by the intimate account of your metaphysical sojourn. I can identify with the evangelical assault you endured as a vulnerable adolescent and your subsequent discovery of Eastern and aboriginal perspectives.

Finally your perspective that as teachers we encourage students to become conscious shapers of their scripts toward their fellow human beings is our main objective.
Thanks!

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