This course will become read-only in the near future. Tell us at community.p2pu.org if that is a problem.
Join a National Writing Project study group as we explore these questions together through our own experiences and those of the NWP Digital Is community. Each week we'll focus on a different aspect of inquiry and practice related to writing, teaching and connected learning.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Invocations are usually done at the beginnings of a venture. From the Greeks and forward to the present day, invocations have been standard operating procedure for the beginnings of anything of real moment. Steven Pressfield in his book, The War of Art, describes how every writing day begins for him with an invocation from T.E.Lawrence's translation of The Odyssey. That invocation concludes with the following, "Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse!"
I don't think of this last week here at P2PU as an ending. Instead, it's a chance to look back, reflect, and invoke forward "a tale to live for us in all its many bearings". The story you tell forward will be unique, even idiosyncratic. It is as much for yourself as it is for your audience, but I am not leaving you hanging. I have included some help. I have recorded this set of instructions and included two videos to give you some guidance. The two short videos are from ze frank. He will be like the angel in "Wings of Desire", there to offer aid to your soul, your daimon, your genius.
The first video ["Mediuming"] is by way of a set of directions for the right brain--indirect, emotional, and definitely not stepwise. Use them as you will. YMMV, your mileage may vary.
The second video ["An Invocation for Beginnings"] is by way of a model, ze frank's invocation, uniquely his own just as sure as yours will be.
I have placed audio instructions and the two video above in one place, an interesting new site that might get your creative juices going, "Dragontape".
That is your task. Make your mark. What do you intend? What future do you invoke? It could be specific to the weeks of work that have preceded or you might make a jaunty walkabout into another arroyo. Hint: you might want to make note of the imperative quality of ze frank's invocation--his "Let me...". But that is only one of many adjacent possibles.
Do as you will in whatever mode you will for however long as you will. I look forward to sharing mine, may you share yours here as well. And about perfectionism. Ze Frank says this about him, "Perfectionism may look good in his shiny shoes, but he's a little bit of an asshole and no one invites them to their pool parties."
Invoke yourself!
Kevin and Terry, I'm not certain what to present here, but I did reflect on the literary discourse we have had and created this video of my what I hope I do:
I hope it shares with my students the hope I have for them through my goals and my request of them as I share my own poetry and life-changing mottos.
Thanks for the discussions.
The adjacent possible is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself. - Steven Johnson (WSJ)
The map itself is off-kilter
but I don't care -
I'm convinced that we can
still find a way forward
into and beyond the margins of this text
if we can stare deep enough into the dots
underlying the letters
underlying the words
underlying the ideas
Sometimes, I close my eyes
just to get a glimpse of those shadows
- false or otherwise -
of what might be possible
if we can just dream far enough away from ourselves
and our preconceptions of text ...
underlying the sounds
underlying the words
underlying the thoughts
The possibilities -- adjacent or otherwise -
seem to stretch beyond the strings
of imagination.
--Kevin
PS -- thanks for the words and images and videos and sounds to get me writing this morning.
All of my replies above are in public Diigo notes so you have to be signed in to Diigo to view them, I think. If you don't have Diigo, here is an annotated link that should (fingers crossed) work. Thanks for sharing and caring and blaring.
always blaring ...
the link didn't work for me. I got kicked back to my poem in P2PU.
Try again?
(update: maybe your diigo note aren't public? not sure about diigo enough to troubleshoot)
I forgot that I annotated the unique url to your comment. Hope the link above works. If not try this one.
The notes are definitely public ones, but sometimes Diigo's servers get a bit wonky and need refreshing. Don't forget to turn on either "See only public annotations" oe "See all annotations" in the diigo toolbar.
I guess if all else fails you can just go to the unique url for you poem/comment.
Thanks for the quote citation:
The adjacent possible is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself. - Steven Johnson (WSJ)
and the poem of possibilities which led me to mine:
Just the right search
ReSearch to clarify and connect
ideas and imagination
Just the right relevance
ReSearch to clarify and connect
mine to others
Just the right rethink
ReSearch to clarify and connect
wonder and wander
Just adjacent
Just prescient
Just possible
Now perceptible
Now awakened
Just the right or left turn
Open ReSearch
Adjacent Possible Innovation
~ Sheri Edwards
Here is my invocation. It is definitely not wearing its shiny shoes so please, please, please invite me to your pool party.
