It was a dark and stormy night...

It was a dark and stormy night... This is all I remember from my first literary work that was critically acclaimed, the opening sentence and a boat crudely drawn in high waves. I was around seven and the critic was my second grade teacher. The teacher liked how the she was able to see the story, not just read it. Reflecting on it now, her words stuck through with me more than those of most of my teachers.

Come to think of it, it was in her class that I first meditated and was the first time I got in trouble and had to apologise. She was a drama teacher by trade and was often flamboyant in her movements, expressive with her face and kind with her words. Back in those days, she had a Charlie's Angels vibe to her, not that it registered to a seven year old.

The paths looking back

Even though I am not a writer by trade, language has played a vital role in my career path. In Australia, it was my ability to mediate and handle upset customers that became my core added value skill to the workplace, the skills beyond the requirements of the job. It has also been my language ability that has kept me afloat on the other side of the world in a non-English speaking country.

Many do not spend time looking at what catalysed their current position in life, what fortune brought to their table. It is of course different for all but it is common that some trait, skill or way of thinking was picked and recognised by someone in an authority position, someone the person respected at the time.

There is something to be said about teachers, especially in the formative years, who are willing and able enough to be interested in the long-term view of their students, not just for the year that they have them in the class. This support or lack thereof can be vital in the growth or retardation of a student. Parents are of course likely the number one teacher at this point, how many are truly interested enough to learn what it takes?

All of these events throughout life slowly nudge us towards likely paths that lead onto wider or narrower sections of skill and development. For some they push onto dead ends, for many onto a career and for a few, they follow and explore until they find a passion that drives them onto more exploration and discovery.

Wander and explore

The most important skills that can be taught in young childhood are two that can walk hand in hand, curiosity and creativity. They can feed each other and can set an upward spiraling of development that with early nurture, can survive a lifetime. With early censorship however, a young mind can learn to retract and play it mentally safe.

Many are in this position I feel yet may not realise it themselves. There childhood has taught them that curiosity kills the cat and their creativity was driven out by order and structure, perhaps parents that wanted an easier experience parenting. Some of course thrive in such conditions, but not all.

There are reasons we are the way we are and as individualistic as we feel, our very individualism has benefited from the forces that influenced us in our past, the lessons we carry into our future.

At Steemit, I have met a lot of decentralized thinkers, people who like me, are less inclined to support a central authority. There are the cryptocurrency traders, the home and unschoolers and a large collection of people who have lost faith in their governments and markets and have come here to try their hand. each may have a different path to this point yet, here we are.

What did you find? And you?

What I would like to explore are what we bring to the table of those within the community. Are we like the parents and teachers too tired to do anything other than aim for an easy life, or are we those looking into the long-term of the community. Just like in the various global education systems, the curriculum needs to be investigated and adjusted to best suit the student.

Not all students, the student. The changes need to stop treating people as if there is only one pathway to reach a destination and instead encourage and support them to find their own, explore the brambles and thickets, trek far afield and at some point, come back and share the findings.

This is something I love here. There are a few that have trekked deep into places I have never been and then spend time and effort developing a lesson plan from which I can experience through my own interpretation of it. There are writers and artists, political activists and charity workers, financial experts and coders all together sharing what they know. Do they realise where it could lead?

Perhaps not, but they also need not. All we need do is look after our own experiences and how we deal with the support or repression of our skill sets. If we choose to invest into ourselves, our chances of a successful life expand, if we choose to share what we have learned, so do our chances of a successful community.

After she read all of 'It was a dark and stormy night..' she praised the effort and asked 'Where does the story go from here?'

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]