Watch the first 12 minutes of this TedTalk and consider Tan’s thinking about the creative process. Tan talks about her own creative autobiography, in particular how her family history and family expectations shaped who she became as a writer. Then, interestingly, she connects the creative process with terms related to quantum mechanics. Though this may […]
Poem: Jalal al-Din Rumi-“Don’t Go Back to Sleep”
This truly beautiful poem by the Sufi poet known popularly as Rumi is about the creative process and being awake enough to NOTICE our surroundings. What do you think Rumi means by the door being “round and open.” Some students have suggested this is the open eye. What does Rumi mean by being “awake”? Do […]
Joan Didion, “Why I Write”
In “Why I Write” essayist and fiction writer Joan Didion discusses how she became a writer to discover what was already in her mind. She suggests, provocatively, that some things and memories have shimmering qualities. These “shimmering” qualities, if we recognize them, identify stories that need to be told. According to Didion, good sentences also […]