Thinking about Thinking

 

Yesterday a friend came over for a visit.  We have known each other since 1995 and we aren't 'besties' but we enjoy each others company and used to get together frequently to make bobbin lace or other portable textile crafts.  She is a professor of mathematics and has been a teacher since long before we met, and we often talk about a long eclectic list of things, teaching/learning just one of them.  I forgot to mention this book to her, but now that I think about it, she might find it of interest.

Since we both teach, but different fields, we have frequently talked about the student/teacher relationship, the things that we believe need to be addressed, and how we, ourselves, learn.   And cultivating a solid foundation of information to build upon.  We are different people with different brains, learning/teaching different information, but the concept of trying to convey information is generic enough that we can see similarities.

As it happens she experienced a brain injury a few years ago, and me one year ago, and we have during the time since her injury, talked about the ways brains work - or don't.  As I struggled my way through the past 12 months, I thought about the injury she sustained and the progress that she has made.  Part of what kept me going was knowing how injured she had been, and how much she has improved since her injury.

She encouraged me to keep going and never say 'never'.  I told her that I had, just this past week, agreed to do a guild presentation - not one of my 'formal' Zoom presentations, but an Ask Me Anything (Wet Finishing).  Trying to work within what is currently possible, in hopes that progress will continue.  She encouraged me to keep trying, keep testing my limits, pushing at them, tweaking them.  

I had 'missed' seeing her after my injury, but I could not have managed a visit.  OTOH, yesterday we sat and talked for about 2.5 hours.  And I didn't collapse afterwards, although I was feeling a bit tired.  She is extremely busy getting ready for classes to begin next week, but I'm hoping that we can get together a little bit more often.  Maybe I will remember to hand her this book and see what she thinks.  And maybe we can talk about the contents a bit.

I doubt I have the brain power to try and read this book right now, although I wouldn't mind digging into it a bit deeper.  

Never say never, right?