I've Been Thinking...

Generosity as a Creative

I’m thinking of teaching a course or two this coming year to get back to my roots. My second child had been born (eighteen years ago!) and I left, overwhelmed with motherhood and all that entails. And raising two special needs kids (both on the autism spectrum) requires a lot of regular routines and commitment, and so, I had a new full-time job.

However, since both my kids are a bit more independent, I am thinking of resurfacing in the world of teaching. It’s true, when my youngest was in a cooperative preschool, during the summers I held a nature camp and a nature art camp for his class, so all the kids could still see each other and I still took some opportunities to teach. But it was a different experience from teaching in a college classroom, able to share my enthusiasm about writing with like-minded adults.

And while some of you may be remembering that I taught communication courses at the college level—it’s true. But public speaking involves just as much written communication as oral, so I’ve always had my toes in the writing world, even after I finished my poetry degree.

I’ve been creating stickers lately.

I plan on applying to teach symposiums for the two state writing groups I am affiliated with. I may also apply to teach at a regional writing center where I’ve been taking classes for the past year. I think of this endeavor as two-fold: first, I am giving back to the poetry community that has so graciously been providing me with information and opportunities; secondly, I am honing those skills I have been developing over the past few years.

When you teach, you share your information and experiences with others; an invaluable resource. We benefit from others’ experiences and information daily as we share conversations, read articles, listen to music. I feel it is such a generous, human thing to do. And I feel like it is time once again for me to exchange my information and experiences that have built up.

And when you teach, you get to understand what it is you are sharing, to a more refined degree than you previously understood it. Teaching functions as any other task, in that the more you practice it, the better you become at the task; in addition, whatever it is you are teaching becomes better known to you.

I feel I have a pretty good knowledge base regarding sending poetry out to literary magazines, putting published poems into a chapbook manuscript, and workshopping poetry, so I think I’ll begin there for symposium topics. If I get the opportunity to teach, I know by the end of the classes, I’ll have an even better knowledge base as I’ll have made mistakes and learned from them, as well as benefitting from the classroom situation where others share their experiences and questions

Some more stickers—I made a concertina book with them in it.

.As a writer and artist, I feel like there is nothing more sacred than remaining curious and sharing information with others. And part of the process of creativity necessitates being generous with others—this is mostly a solitary path we’ve chosen and to incorporate others in this process is vital for us to remain motivated and in-touch with why we create in the first place. Teaching isn’t the only way we can practice generosity, of course. I always make sure, if I know a poet is sending their work out to literary magazines, to share my list of which literary magazines are accepting submissions during which month throughout the year. I remember beginning that process and feeling completely overwhelmed—if I can save someone that step and support and encourage them, I do.

I’ve had a lot of creatives who have generously written blurbs for my chapbooks. What are the ways you practice generosity as a creative? Do you do it though teaching as well? What tips/tricks can you share with us?

I hope you are enjoying the beginnings of this introspective season!

A walk on the nature trail, November 2026, Tulip tree leaf.