There is an old sociology maxim that language shapes the view of reality of its speakers. In recent conversations with my best friend and partner, that subject sank deeper and deeper into my psyche. The idea that changing the way I speak–professionally and otherwise–would necessarily change my view of reality was more of an afterthought than a present logical concern… there, see? Present logical concern is a turn of phrase–language–that I once found as foreign as Spanish. Yet I find myself steeped in more and more officious and trade-based language, and as I do so, I slip further and further away from the passions that brought me to my craft.
The craft in question is teaching. The teaching of writing to be specific. I spend a lot of time (I wanted to say vast there) surrounded by university wonks trying to bring that mentality to the community college level. I’m not just talking about standards, though that is a discussion worth having. I’m talking about the culture of the place. My school is built around a transfer-to-university philosophy. Other schools I’ve dealt with have different mentalities and that made the culture of each very different and the language used from peer to peer to student (there I go again) very different.
In short what I’m talking about is this idea of becoming a fake wonk because I talk like one. It changes you. It doesn’t change your philosophy so much as it changes the way you unconsciously interact with the world. It is like the boy from the hood waking up one day and realizing he’s part of a country club (I see you, Jay-Z) and mimicking the culture of the people he is surrounded by. When in Rome, so to speak…
Some Thoughts:
- Finished Big little lies. While the ending twist was entirely predictable, it was handled very well. Not to mention a baller soundtrack.