The Blog I Am Afraid to Write (or...my only disclaimer)

I think back to my college days when I took June Jordan's Poetry for the People--a class designed to engage writers in poetry that tells their personal stories, poetry that speaks truth to power. One of our tasks was to write "the poem you are afraid to write".   Mine was written to someone from childhood. The whole thing proved to be quite therapeutic. And now, here I stand at a precipice. I know what time it is.

The time has come for me to write.

This isn't my first blog; I've had several for years now, it's just that they've been private, journal-style. But this is the first one that I will make public and that I indeed intend to maintain. In fact, I have to maintain it. I'm officially in the 2013 cohort of the Bay Area Writing Project's Summer Institute. As a Teacher-Consultant for BAWP, I'll have the chance to share my teaching and writing with other teachers from throughout the area. But the best part is that while we *talk* about *teaching* writing, we are required to write ourselves.

Hence, this blog.

It's about time. I've been afraid, but afraid is not me.

I will write.

I will take this risk of
letting my thoughts be known
my questions be heard
my quirks be outed
my story be published
my Self be shared.

This gift

life, struggle, triumph, journey, fear, faith, mothering, teaching, creating, art, prayer, weakness, confidence, thinking, learning, sorting, organizing, delving, feeling

is not mine to keep.