a presentation for school.

The power of words.

Paul Klee said “I create pour ne pas pleurer.” I create so as not to cry.
Mahatma Ghandi said “Be the change you want to see in the world”

I draw my idea from Pablo Neruda’s poem, The Word. Neruda is a Chilean poet and politician and he wrote this poem wherein the opening line is: “You can say anything you want, yes sir, but it’s the words that sing, they soar and descend ….I bow to them…I love them…”

The power of a word.

Our words, our different language registers allow us to navigate and communicate through the many worlds we are in. As a child I wrote plays and had them performed, I wrote monologues, poetry and stories that allowed me to express myself through my childhood, teen angst years and now as an adult. My career is a teacher, but I am a writer. In the higher education world I may throw around words such as pedagogy, theory, self-efficacy. In my teaching world I use literacy, numerous acronyms, and school success. In my classroom I use colloquialisms, Whudups, I'm in, and Peace out. I also use mutual respect, our “truths”, and empathy. My words hold power in the worlds in which I navigate. As I reflect on my world I am reminded of a phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can shatter the soul”. I think this is true. Words like, NO, Can’t, Never, talent, right, standards, they all have power. The 10 year old girl inside me remembers when a boy told me that I could not sing. To this day I remember those words. I downright refused to sing for many, many years in front of other people. Interestingly enough I find myself in a theatre world where I direct musicals. I was forced to face my fear and sing in front of the students. With shaky hands and a red face I did a mock audition for my students. I sang a song with hesitancy, but their voices cheered me on. After I was done a 10 year old came up to me and said, “See Katy, singing isn’t that hard”. We have all heard no, can’t, never, before. And since we are here I am sure we have heard, can, do, and talent as well.

I’m going to switch gears. Silence also has power. The Day of Silence is a day that our high school participates in. "On the National Day of Silence hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools". My high school participated in this day that encourages us to be silent to remember those who did not have the voice to speak. I have dreams of using tableau images on this day to give students something to think about.

I could give you a list of my credentials, I could stand here and recite a list of my accomplishments, my background in the arts, how I play, or why I am even in this course. But little do you know I am just like you. With dark clouds and sunny days. I am privileged. Connections. Perhaps you are striving to make one with me now. To smile that knowing smile when I mention something you can relate to. To see your eyes open wider as I mention somewhere you have been or see the tears in your eyes if my story was able to connect to you on a deeper level. The power of words. And the power of silence all in one.

What I will tell you is: I am an arts advocate and I am a social justice advocate. I believe in the power of art to change, transform, make you think, affect you, entertain you, be cathartic, make it a little less boring, be used as an outlet, be used as a platform, learn and teach empathy, explore, challenge, reinvent, allow for play, to be beautiful, to explain, to understand and the list could go on and on.

I believe in the power of words and the power of silence.

I create so as not to cry.