Back From My Thanksgiving Nap

The art of procrastination is the one skill that I have perfected over time. It’s funny how I somehow got very good at devoting time to thought processes that are counter productive to productivity. I find ways to justify the reasons I don’t want to do the things that are good for me. Case in point – this blog.

When I started this blog, I was heavily involved in researching due to a commitment that I had made to speak at an upcoming conference. My mind was aflutter with thoughts about educating boys, pedagogy and technology. What better way to flush some ideas out as they were entering my head than to write a blog about those thoughts. “The Awakening Mind” right?

Once that time had passed, I stopped reading and therefore stopped writing. I had no earth shattering thoughts anymore so why should I post to my blog. I wouldn’t sound intelligent. My due date for my term paper had come and gone and therefore I didn’t need to be awake anymore. I was getting tired… Back to my slumber….. ZZZzzzzzzz…..

After a few wake up calls from a friend, I am back at it for now. I actually woke up this morning with the intent of posting these ideas. Now that I am in my third paragraph, I actually am getting on a roll here…. There is a lesson in this somewhere and I am getting to a point in this post – really I am.

I was sitting in a staff meeting and we were discussing how we as a school could become more involved in the bigger conversation about educating young men. As I always do, I asked myself how technology could help. Pretty nerdy huh? I discussed the fact that our staff is great at sessions devoted to discussion and skilled in the art of verbose interaction. I have been privy to many discussions with my peers that have great content and have generated ideas that are earth shattering (and then I spoke up). The problem that I see is that there really is no record of those conversations ever happening. Enter the blog.

Yes it’s true that most blog writers use this medium as a forum for their ideas and to generate a discussion about a certain topic. Our youthful generations use it as a form of digital diary for the whole world to see. Both are methods of expression. Expression of ideas written on a public platform. Ideas that may be thought provoking, scary, crazy and sometimes downright incoherent. Nonetheless, bloggers post those ideas and for the most part, probably feel as I do – better after those ideas have been disseminated. More importantly, they are in a format that may not be forgotten or lost. For lack of a better metaphor – they are committed to pen and paper and thus – a part of history.

So here I begin (again) being awakened by an idea, a concept, a crazy thought and hoping that:

1. I get more of these crazy thoughts. (This shouldn't be a problem).
2. I find the motivation to write about them and .....
3. I continue to stay mentally awake (at least once a week) to prove to myself that I have a brain.

I’d better stop before the coffee kicks in….