Meg Tilly posted a very gracious response: http://www.officialmegtilly.com/blog/nancy/

Lazygal, it is very interesting to think about this in terms of how we do/do not present ourselves as authority when up in front of others. I had not taken my thinking there, but you have stimulated some additional reflections.

Tiara - don’t let a grade or a teacher diminish your sense of power to reflect and express yourself. Our creative outlets let us tap into things that may JUST BE for ourselves. I applaud your courage and encourage you not to let others dissuade you!!

Gene (not Glenn! ) I thought Nils was very brave to do that. I saw the comments (many of them) and know I would have felt very challenged.

Long ago in my first online forums experiences, someone said you needed to “put on your teflon jammies.” In a way, that is true. We need resiliance. But too much teflon and we don’t feel.

Today in the Seattle Times there was a book review about a book criticizing American’s penchant for happiness, that it blinds us to life, to feeling. In some ways this resonates for me. So I’d say teflon jammies, but not full body armor!

When Nils (Basco5) begins his poster project for us we always have a discussion about what it will be about. We share ideas and then he bravely puts out in his art form those ideas. This year he put it up on flickr and asked for additional input. I could never ever do that. It would be too difficult. But this is the media that he must and does express himself in. He can do it. Some of us do it with words, others art, others something different. It is in finding our means of portrayal that we feel our own meanings have been made. Then maybe, just maybe, it creates the strength for others.

Thank you Nancy and thank you Meg.

I just got back the story today. 4 - Pass, pretty much like a D. According to my tutors, my characters weren’t engaging enough because their actions weren’t justified and they didn’t have enough motivation. The side character (based on my boyfriend) was apparently mindless.

Of course the lead girl won’t have any motivation - she’s DEPRESSED! She’s fallen into ennui and everything’s meaningless! Of course her (ex)boyfriend is acting mindless - the love of his life has DISAPPEARED and it may have been his fault! If I added justification or motivation to the story, there would be no story to begin with!

it hurts to see something that came from the heart be torn apart like that. I’m in my final year of my degree and I’ve felt that taking Creative Writing as one of my submajors was a big mistake because my honesty is being graded on whether it can sell. I want to write for myself, not for an audience’s cash.

I’s also helped me think about my presence as The Authority at conferences and in the classroom: am I being aware of what’s going on for the others(hard to do sometimes with 5th graders, but it’s something to attempt)?

I also had the good fortune to be in this session — the love and respect with which you approached the people in your session, and the reverence you have for their creativity, is readily apparent —

As Chris points out, whenever you have activities that start from a place of open-ended creativity, people will talk about real things — and real things hurt, and are messy. Often, revelations occur precisely *because* you have set up an environment where people feel comfortable.

Meg — thank you for sharing your drawing out — from your post, I get the strong impression that the experience was less than what you wanted. But, if this amounts to anything, your example of bravery, and taking emotional risks, can inspire others to do the same. Facing the things that scare us or hurt us is never fun, but it’s an important stop on the way to balancing our lives against that pain. Hopefully, there will be some catharsis as a result. Thank you for having the courage and the heart to share your experience –

Tzaddi, here are beams of “banish the inner critic” coming your way.