My art studio backs to the alley. I can see two garbage cans cushioning the neighbors’ Suburu against the world, maybe from acts of random alley violence? Or maybe from my suspect driving? Who walks in this alley? People with dogs, pre-teens, single people, groups of giggling girls and those taking a shortcut to the coffee shop on weekend mornings. I can’t help but compare this alley to the alėja of my childhood summer town that I just visited. There, alėja is the main pedestrian strip in town, where nature and culture meet you…
For the last six months I have traveled some, talked with people, interviewed them, tried to engage them in a conversation, did observations,
and reflected on the work of teachers,
facilitators, and those who teach the creative process. I was doing an inquiry, all on my own volition, in order to become more
integrated, as Freire said, “with the spirit of the times.” Freire
also said “integration
results from the capacity to adapt oneself to reality plus the critical capacity to make choices and transform that
reality (p. 4).”
What did I learn?
Here, how easily we relinquish our capacity to choose…
There, how easily we slip into intolerance of Other…
And in both places, I saw and felt the aliveness, the hope, an openness to live creatively, that innate and universal theme and task…
My interpretation is not complete, the meaning is not final, the insight is limited; however, it is enough to re-inspire me for action. I can’t predict the November election or wave the magic wand and shrink class size in my child’s school down from 35, but I can paint with others. And while painting, I can listen to the stories that are shared, in images, words, and lines…
Freire, P. (2009). Education for critical consciousness.
New York, NY: Continuum.