“What would you miss most if you could not read or write?”
I have thought about this over the years and it terrifies me. Sometimes I think about losing one of my senses and I think the main one I would not want to lose is my sight. I read constantly and write a lot especially in this blog.
Reading takes me on adventures that I have never dreamed of and adventures that I’ve always dreamed of. It has also helped me learn about topics that interest me at the time. I find reading relaxing and so important to my life. Since I was a small child, I have had a book with me every single day of my life. When I go on trips, I make sure that I have packed enough books with me. Maybe I am obsessed with and addicted to books. As the weekend approaches, my husband knows to ask me if I have enough books to get me through the weekend as if it is medication that I can’t live without. I must not be a very nice person if I don’t have my book fix!
I think if I could not read, I would miss the adventures that the main characters participate in. The adventures might be in exotic places or they may take place around the country where I have been before. The adventures might consist of relationships with other people. It might be a mystery or a romance. The possibilities in my mind are endless when I’m reading and that is what I would miss the most.
Writing has become an important part of my life also. Even as a young child, I loved to write stories. As a teen, I kept a diary to share my innermost thoughts and feelings. It was my best friend when I had no one else. As a new teacher, I wrote about my experiences so that I could reflect on my teaching practices. When I retired, I started this blog so I could share my knowledge and experiences with others in order to help them be more successful in the classroom. This September, this blog will celebrate its fourth birthday and it is hard for me to believe that I have been writing for four years!
If I was not able to write, I would miss sharing my thoughts and ideas with others. I know that I could talk about my experiences but for me, writing is so much easier. I am able to write my thoughts down and then edit my words so that what I am saying can be clearer to the reader. I am not always able to verbalize in this way so that my words come out with the clarity that my writing does. Sometimes when I write down what I’m thinking and then come back to the words, I realize that what I felt at the moment is not the way that I feel most of the time. It gives me a chance to react and then reflect. Once words are out of my mouth, I feel that it is too late to reflect on my words and change them without causing misunderstandings.
How would you answer this question? Please share.
Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).
Original image: 'Be seeing you'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19487674@N00/58499153 by: Oliver Hammond
4 comments:
I would miss out on going to foreign lands. Unable to be immersed in foreign cultures through characters in books such as "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "Memoir of a Geisha," I would not have such a "global" perspective...
I would not know the pleasure of making a person laugh or cry or wince, just from the power of my words...
I would not be able to delight in a hand-written letter from a friend.
The world would be a bleak place indeed.
@Sioux You said this so eloquently! Thanks for your comments! I agree on what a bleak world it would be!
I think that I would miss thinking. It is through reading and writing that I sort out ideas and make connections. Quintilian says there are four ways of learning, "listening, speaking, reading, and writing." I think speaking and listening are great for exploring ideas, but reading and writing given the slower pace make for a more reflective process. It also makes it easier for others to follow complex ideas or to develop complex ideas. If I could not read and write, my thinking would be severly impaired. Although, I probably would have a better memory for speaking and listening given I could write things bad or reference them.
@David I never thought of all of them connected that way. That is so true! Thanks for reading my blog and commenting!
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