Tuesday, May 29, 2018
What am I?
I was on a long drive recently and found myself lost in thought on a question that isn't as simple as it seems.
Often when I meet someone, they will ask "What do you do?" It's really a form of the question "who are you?" that seeks a definition based on vocation. I am ok with; I think when that constricted question is asked, the person asking thinks that they are not asking about all the other things that make you what you are: Your people, your scars, your loves, your fears. Somehow, asking "what do you do?" seems safer than all that mess.
But is it? For those who are unemployed or in a job they hate, it is the same as asking what their scars are. If they are a stay-at-home supporter of children or parents, it is the same thing as asking who their people are. If they are finishing a stage of life (school, say), it is the same thing as asking about fear.
So, what am I?
I'm not really sure, but I like it.
I am kind of a writer, I guess. I write a lot, and it gets out there where people read it. But saying I am a writer is incomplete. It doesn't capture a lot of what I spend my days doing. And so many people do it better (and do more of it) than me.
Some people I know describe themselves as an "activist," and they do a lot of the same kinds of things that I do. I've never used that word for myself, though. It seems to promise too much.
Of course, my formal title is "professor." That's my job, what it says on the nameplate outside of my office. That seems incomplete, too, though, even as it comes off as too grand. I do a lot of things that professors usually don't, and I don't understand a lot of what people are talking about in the academy.
The best word for what I do, the one I use most often when people ask what I do, is "teacher." That is the clean shirt that fits on me without effort. It also sweeps up everything I do: it all is a part of teaching. When I think of myself as a teacher, it makes as part of a league of peers who teach everything from kindergarten to truck driving; our goals are the same, to make people better able to realize their dreams and aspirations. What's better than that?
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"For those who are unemployed or in a job they hate, it is the same as asking what their scars are. If they are a stay-at-home supporter of children or parents, it is the same thing as asking who their people are. If they are finishing a stage of life (school, say), it is the same thing as asking about fear."
This is beautiful; thank you.
It's so hard to resist asking someone What do you do? I wish we (I) could be bolder and ask What are you proud of? or What matters to you? instead.
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This is beautiful; thank you.
It's so hard to resist asking someone What do you do? I wish we (I) could be bolder and ask What are you proud of? or What matters to you? instead.
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