de|vel|op: vt. to make fuller, bigger, better

this has been an amazing semester. not always the most pleasant but I learned so much. and not in the hollow way where you learn how to find the speed of a car moving down a cliff, but in this astonishing way where you learn how to live your life, where you grow as a human being. i love this feeling. it reminds me of being five (and oh soo cute) and just walking around in constant awe of the world around me. somewhere along the line i lost that, i think it had everything to do with school and life getting in the way of things. school isn't very conducive to people learning to think for themselves, its more about teaching how to be a sheep and regurgitate what the teacher preaches as truth. why didn't anyone ever bother telling me that there is no such thing? i would have gotten sooo much more out of school that way.

the funny thing about this semester is that i've learned the basics: how to read, write, and listen. and now, even trying to explain that it sounds silly. "oh jes of course you know how to read, everyone knows that." do you really know how to read? are we really taught that? because reading isn't about just superficially reading the words, its about connecting fully with the text and the author, knowing who they're in conversation with, and what brought them to create this. this is how you read. and it takes forever, and its a bitch to do, but once you've done it the taste lingers in your mouth and you're hooked.

i think the most important thing i've learned this semester is to listen. like truly listen to other people, and not just like in one ear and out the other, but listen. everyone has something amazing to say. last night during my umass class (which lasted 5 hours) i heard some of the most beautiful, amazing, engaging, powerful, and intelligent work that i've ever heard in my life. it was a privilege. and this amazing work was coming from umass kids who i typically would have just shrugged off because they dont speak up in class and worry more about their gucci sunglasses than the reading. but the class was just incredible. and it felt so amazing to read my work, and show my paintings, and just breathe.

i thought i was going to have a panic attack before i went up there. the entire day i was having these horrible pangs of "what am i doing sharing these things with people?" i told a class of about 30 women things that i dont tell people. things that y'all dont even know about me. and it was amazing. for the first time in my life, i really took a risk and put myself out there, and it rocked. i feel alive. like truly alive. but most importantly i learned to let go of the outcome. you don't like what i have to say? thats too damn bad. i don't need you to like me. i'm a grown ass woman. and what i want to do with my life is write.

ps. this is fabulous. consider it your required reading for the night.