Crystallized Thoughts

I took this photo on Friday evening when I arrived at the cottage and headed straight to the beach for a walk, even before I unlocked the door to put the groceries in the fridge. It was cold enough out anyway, the air itself was a sort of fridge, and I had to use my Hok skis to get from the car to the cottage as our long curving driveway lined by leafless Poplars still had two feet of snow even though we are well into May. Plus I needed the skis to get to the beach, and they were already on my feet, so I thought, let’s go. The sky was grey and I knew it would be even "greyer" for the next two days; heavy rain and strong winds were forecast. But, quite frankly, I was glad; this was the perfect weekend to work on some projects that required dedicated time and space. 48 hours with no television, very little Internet since I was using the 3G on my phone, a tiny bit of radio during meals, and only the dog for conversation. I kept a fire going in the wood-stove to cut the humidity and take off the chill, and the crackling pine logs provided a cozy close-up sound for the background of the rain on the metal roof, roaring waves and whistling wind. I hunkered down for a weekend of thinking.

June is conference season for college teachers. I am attending two in Montreal at the beginning of next month, SALTISE and the AQPC. I love immersing myself in gatherings of hundreds of people who are passionate about pedagogy. I get to learn from my colleagues about their research and experiences, and I also like having the opportunity to share what I have discovered with others. This year I am scheduled to present three different times. You might wonder why someone would want to give workshops. It isn’t lucrative; I get half price on one conference because I am presenting, and the other two shorter presentations I am doing simply for the joy of it. And it takes a lot of time -hours, maybe days if I add up all of the thinking, planning, preparing of slides and texts, and then practicing. All for a few minutes; the three presentations range from 7 minutes, to 15 minutes, to 75 minutes. The longest one I have a partner to work with, but even that means synchronizing schedules and collaborating. So where is the gain in all this “pain”? The big payoff in presenting your ideas to colleagues is in the crystallization of your thoughts on a specific topic. 

We hear of writer’s retreats and I can understand why the combined aspects of isolation and proximity to nature can help people focus and be more productive. I feel lucky to have this cottage on the beach to escape to. To have a place where I can be alone with my thoughts and give them time to crystalize.