For the next ten weeks of my life the words StoryStudio Chicago will not be in my weekly planner. For the next ten weeks I will be working for an after school program called, Words@Play facilitated by the Chicago Parks and Recreation and also the Chicago Children’s Humanities Festival. I am super psyched for the chance to teach in this award winning program, but am sad to see myself absent from the studio. I will be working my regular 40 hour a week position at a local women’s non profit as an assistant grant writer and also working a residency with Hands on Stanza’s for the Poetry Center of Chicago. So it’s not like I will be sitting on my duff while missing out on my shifts here. Though I’m desperately at a loss with knowing I won’t be using my pink key to open up the studio for a night of classes.
When I made the decision to temporarily leave my post here at StoryStudio it came with a heavy heart. As a writer I feel I have a slight quality of being a creature of habit. Not to say that all writer’s share this, though most I’ve met have in someway exhibited this characteristic in some form or another. It was the choice of overextending myself and doing everything I loved poorly, or doing things I loved well and having to sacrifice one of the things I have come to adore the most about my life. My involvement at StoryStudio Chicago has been a huge part of “keep Marissa sane and connected” regime.
As a Poet/Educator I have learned that what I need more than anything is energy. If I am not exuding an enthusiastic warmth, then a discussion about why line breaks exist in the poem is nothing a child could possibly be interested in learning about. I have spent the last two years at StoryStudio learning as much as I could from all the teachers, the students and staff I have met and have discovered that what it takes to be successful in writing, is the courage to recognize one’s strengths and one’s weakness and moving forward. I am hopeful that my ten weeks with Words@Play will further enhance my abilities as a teacher and an artist and most importantly remind me as to why poetry is one of the largest loves of my life.
I am only slightly encouraged about the fact that once I get started, once the fall is in full swing and winter hits the city, ten weeks will melt away into a rush of white. The amazing core group that is StoryStudio Chicago staff has enabled me to take this opportunity and I am so grateful to them for working as a team to pull off covering ten weeks worth of my shifts. I really found the supportive network of writers I feel every writer dreams about. Writing isn’t just something I do, it’s something I want to live and breath, just like so many I know, have known and will know. Being a Poet/Educator is something that during my MFA days never came into my realm of thinking because I thought it was unattainable. Now, I know that living off doing what you are most passionate about is a possibility.
Just look around you when you’re here in the studio, everyone here is doing something they are passionate about, taking that next step, opening that new door. It’s beautiful! I am proud to be a part of this space and am jealous of everyone that gets to take a class this fall! See you this winter!
