I spent 11 years in college: 4 years undergrad, 2 years working on my master's and 5 years working on my Ph.D. The emphasis was on developing my rational mind. I acquired knowledge and studied big ideas. I learned to reason and analyze, and synthesize and aggregate concepts (I also learned some pretty big words).
During the my last few years of graduate school, I starting reading Michel Foucault. A brilliant thinker, his theories about the role of discourse in human interaction are a testament to the power of the human mind. Toward the very end of my studies I read this passage from an interview that was conducted with Foucault during his final year of life: "...we have to create ourselves as a work of art." Suddenly, everything else I had learned paled in comparison.
I felt a very strong desire to uncover and unleash my creative energy. I felt like a person who, suddenly learns she can walk after years of being confined to a wheelchair. The muscles are atrophied and must be strengthened. Walking is awkward and ungraceful, sometimes even painful. It is a long and grueling process. I am beginning that process now. I try to work my creative muscles. It is hard to be patient because I dream of running marathons.
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