learning – Clara Hsu

To learn is to make mistakes, but to admit error and learn from it requires faith. There are life threatening situations that definitely need immediate intervention, such as when a child blindly runs across a street or a drunk driver on the road. But there are many occasions where mistakes do not physically endanger ourselves and others, and to fully understand the consequence of an action is to be allowed to live it.

Allowing someone to make mistakes is different from “tough love”, where one person has power over the other, and the reward is given rather than self generated. It is very hard for me to watch my children flounder. It’s even harder to watch myself flounder. It takes faith that at some point we might learn something from the experience, and go on giving ourselves permission to make mistakes.

Learning is a strange process. After writing poetry for ten years I’m beginning to realize there are skills involved. My tool bag? Quite empty at the moment. And it is this lack that propels me to enquire.

Language. We begin learning by listening, not by recognizing the alphabets. Perhaps poetry is the same thing. We begin by thinking (not writing)—that everything is a puzzle and nothing is what it seems to be. From one thought, go deep, branch out, retrieve, manipulate; poetry is art.

Take out logic, what do we have? Capturing random thoughts requires intention. Connecting the conscious and the subconscious and what to do with them? These are my questions. After breaking down one door there is always another. Poetry is mystery.

Listen to many languages to come up with a new language, one that may illustrate my thoughts. It’s English with a new outfit. And I’m fickle, always wanting a new outfit.

Tag: learning

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