"When young, things are soft.
When old, things are brittle."
Around the time I was leaving Ireland, a friend and housemate from Japan told me I would make a good ESL teacher because I had "good curiosity about other people and cultures." Other friends have given me similar feedback, both before and since then, but it was difficult to realize in my own terms; I've suffered often as the subject of others' negative, invasive curiosity: About my body, about my faith choices, about my relationships or lack thereof. Once I became receptive to my friends' observations, I could cultivate curiosity--both my own and other people's--by making and accepting invitations, forming questions and timing them sensitively. I'm not always successful, but as I continue working to soften those inflexible, hard places within, I become more alive.
When old, things are brittle."
Around the time I was leaving Ireland, a friend and housemate from Japan told me I would make a good ESL teacher because I had "good curiosity about other people and cultures." Other friends have given me similar feedback, both before and since then, but it was difficult to realize in my own terms; I've suffered often as the subject of others' negative, invasive curiosity: About my body, about my faith choices, about my relationships or lack thereof. Once I became receptive to my friends' observations, I could cultivate curiosity--both my own and other people's--by making and accepting invitations, forming questions and timing them sensitively. I'm not always successful, but as I continue working to soften those inflexible, hard places within, I become more alive.
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