The Spider Web of Life

"What have I inherited?"  (A writing exercise led by James this afternoon)

Step One:  Brainstorm

Youngstown, Ohio (My hometown)
--grit
--confidence
--loyalty
--diversity

Ohio State University
--self-sufficiency
--connections
--opportunity
--friends
--desire to teach

Key West
--the writer's lifestyle
--island life
--the writer's muse

East Tennessee
--y'all

Cape Cod
--how to shuck an oyster
--heartbreak
--triumph

Plymouth, NH
--a second chance
--an English Department mailbox
--the gift of teaching

Step Two:  Circle a word from above.  "Connections"

Step Three:  Write about it and how it relates to my teaching.

We live in a spiderweb of connections, and this massive spiderweb can be difficult to grasp.  It's not something that can be seen with the eye or tasted with the tongue or felt with the hand, but it's there.

All around us.

Invisible threads going left and right, up and down, from one end of the world to the other, connecting us.

We all belong to the web.  Those who feel it and trust it can go anywhere the heart desires.

What thread are you going to take?

--A.P. Vasko