Oku-no-In, Koyasan, Japan, 2015.

sorry in advance, my babies

Région parisienne, France, 2018. 

Source: Mystic Cheesecake Balloon’s students. 

Poët Laval, Drôme, France, 2017. 

Source: Mystic Cheesecake Balloon.

市人よ   Hey townspeople, 此笠うらふ  I’ll sell you my woven hat, 雪の傘   The snow umbrella

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

“Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay, boxing world heavy weight champion in Chicago, on a bridge over the Chicago river”, Thomas Hoepker, Chicago, USA, 1966. 

Source: Magnum photo.

Odilon Redon, Le Bouddha, 1906-1907, pastel sur papier beige, 90 x 73 cm, musée d’Orsay, Paris. 

Source: “Au delà des étoiles, le paysage mystique de Monet à Kandinsky”, 15 mars au 25 juin 2017, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. 

Source: “BestSellers”, Book covers by Hugleikur Dagsson.

- So what are you doing? - Having some very nonfictional feelings about fictional characters. I mean, reading.

Somewhere on the Internet, I can’t remember where. 

As a teacher, I no longer use the word, “smart.” I refuse to call any of my students this word, and I am intentional about not using it in my class. What even is, “smart”? Is smart getting the answer correctly? Being able to perform a specific skill? What is it? Because when we tell kids that they are smart, in reality, it does nothing for them. It does not provide any feedback for them. And the worst part is that this word has become a way for people to classify children into 2 categories: smart, and not. When children assess themselves they have difficulty defining their strengths and weaknesses. Instead, it has become a question of whether they consider themselves as smart, or not. And herein lies the problem. I too, can relate to these kids. I always struggled in math, and considered myself, “not smart” in this subject. I could never take a different perspective and evaluate what areas of math were a struggle, and which parts I understood. Was it the calculation part? Was it memorizing math facts? No, after years as a student in the classroom I looked at my peers and compared myself to them because they were “smart” in math and I was not. Leading me to believe I was somehow less intelligent than my peers when in reality, I just learned differently. I required different help. Teachers, parents and students tossed the word smart around as if it was a label which you had to earn. My point in all of this, and even taking the time to write a tumblr post about it, is that the way we perceive ourselves has everything to do with the way the institutions we grew up in engraved it into our brains. You are not smart, and you are not NOT smart. You are full of strengths and weaknesses, and it is much more important to figure those out than label yourself as anything. Instead of telling a child they are smart, point out what they did correctly and why it was correct. Instead, tell them how the skills they display affect the outcome of a situation. Unsurprisingly, I get quite a few messages from college-aged kids who feel like they’re not smart. Or from people who feel like they won’t make it in college because of how they perform in their academics. I had these very same thoughts as I went into college, and as I was in it. The system of education has failed you/me, and for that, I am sorry. The classroom environment should be teaching you how to identify and reflect on your weaknesses, and how to identify and maximize the potential of your strengths. You’re more than a label, please know this and reflect. Knowing all of this now, I hope and pray that you will change your whole perspective on yourself.

Thank you for reading my extremely long post which is somewhat of me venting, while also trying to encourage you. I hope it is taken to heart.

- Lindsay

Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, sits in the back sit of a car, James Drake, Louisville, USA, 1963.