Who taught me what I want to be?

I have never met one person with the same kind of obsession with New England and horror novels as I have. I can partly thank my mother for my unique obsession, but even further, I can thank the one author who I’ve grown up on. 

At age eleven I read my first King novel that goes by the title of Pet Sematary. Perhaps I was so in love with it because I had also grown up with the movie, but nevertheless, I became hooked. I have vowed to myself to read each and every one of his books before I die. If not by then, maybe in my afterlife. As of now, I have given myself a good start (I think I have read about 30 novels, now).

It’s difficult to describe what it is that I love so much about his writing. Admittedly it is no kind of Shakespeare, and the language can be somewhat vulgar in certain cases. Maybe that is what I fell in love with – the rawness of it, but also the reality of it. He was trying to impress no one, and would write exactly what he wanted to, even if it might make his own mother cringe. 

Through him I started to realize I might enjoy being a writer, and probably more of a horror or drama writer, like he is. Even in his most ridiculous plots, there is always some kind of message to be told, and I as a reader am held responsible to figure out what that message is. His books are not just about a scary clown or a telekinetic prom queen. There is always an underlying truth to them, no matter how fictional they may seem.

That is the goal I have developed as a writer, because of him: to write about whatever I want and as creatively as I want, but to still give it some base from which to build upon. I want to be a writer because I have things that I think are worth communicating to the world, but I know I can do it better through fiction, because that is the only way for me to release every unexplainable idea I’ve ever had. 

Listening, for some, is a lost practice. Even I find it extremely difficult to always stay focused on what exactly I am being told. That’s always been the way my mind works, though – freely moving from thought to thought, sometimes with no connection in between. 

Because I know that I am like this, and because these are not particularly desirable listening skills, I have had to adapt to a world that does not favor million-track minds. Everyone listens in their own way, just like everyone learns in their own way. I have realized there are three things that are very important for me to be able to pay attention:

1) Visualizing the scenario 

2) Relating it to my own life in some way

3) Understanding the context

I am currently enrolled in an Anthropology course, and something about the way the Professor teaches really engages me. Even on my exhausted days, where it’s hard to get me to absorb even a sentence, she can somehow get me to pay attention for nearly8  the entire 50 minutes.

She can give a lecture just like any other professor, but in every slide will describe the topic with clear examples, and even making up dialogue if she is talking about a person in history. Through this I can visualize what really happened at the event of discussion. Because I can relate most of these things to real life (even if they are about people from thousands of years ago), it is easier for me to remember, and it keeps me interested in the class. She also provides plenty of pictures for us, as an added reminder. 

For my professor to treat us as equals and not as inferiors, for encouraging us to answer questions, and for respecting each and every view that is expressed from the students is a major advantage that she has, for she has gained the respect of all of us – respect that leads to us being attentive even when we would rather rest our heads and fall asleep. 

But the truth is, listening is not always so easily fed to us. It is through my Anthropology teacher that I have realized what makes it easier to listen, but also why it is easier. Because of this, I can apply this new knowledge to every day situations. If a detailed story is not given, I can fish for those details in order to better understand the context and then be able to remember what I am told for use in later situations.

Instead of the “in one ear, out the other” approach that tends not to work very well by a college-level standard, I can now do a little more active listening and a little less “What’s going on?”