So, through all of this self-discovery: looking deep within myself to discover who I truly am and what I truly enjoy, it basically comes down to two titles: I am a student AND a teacher.
As I’ve said before: I love to learn. I am constantly on the lookout for some new idea to explore or some project to learn or some skill to master. Along the way, though, I love to teach what I am learning/have learned with everyone who is willing to read what I type here.
I just read an article yesterday “A Writer’s Dirty Little Secret” by Dan Wells that just clicked with me. I do not want to teach, type up blog posts, fix my website, or share links for the betterment of my readers. I do it for me. I find it exciting to not just learn these new skills but to share HOW I learned those skills. I love the challenge of discovering the proper wording to enable people to understand what I am sharing (without relying on my favorite go-to words like thingamajig, doohickey, or thingamabob).
When I was in high school, I took a creative writing class. One of the assignments was to write out instructions, teaching someone how to brush their teeth, while assuming the person had never seen a toothbrush or toothpaste. It was illuminating, discovering the need to dissect terminology which so many of us take for granted when they have been performing a skill/trade/job for years. I know you have run into it before: How to manuals or websites that have you looking up the definition of words just so you can understand what is required of you just to complete the first step (I have even run into that in many of the “For Dummies” set of books, which did a lot for my self esteem at the time). I have always done my best learning with simple instructions, whether those are from someone I am learning from or I am giving them (especially at the start of a new learning adventure). I learned that quickly when I was an adult, helping jewelers (over the phone) fix a computer problem. 🙂
As I work through this realization, my goals are to become not only a better student (to properly learn and grow) but to become a better teacher. I am not sure how that will look (how I will evolve) but I am so happy to have you join me on this adventure!