The opening of 2015 has come and gone. It’s the third month of the year. It’s spring break for the students. And I am only now engaging again with the 500 words per day commitment I made a while back. Time flies, of course, and I am merely an earthly creature. No drama. Just getting up, dusting myself, and moving forward again. There will be more reminders ahead, no doubt.
For me, right now, there is a wall between writing and meditation. My movements from one side to the other are not smooth and seamless. Words are like stones protruding above a shallow stream I am trying to cross. I hop from one to the other in a futile attempt to make it to the bank. There is no bank, only the shallow water stretching as far as the eyes can see. Is the water even moving in a certain direction? It’s hard to tell. The smooth and rounded surface of each stone I step on kisses the balls of my feet firmly. I tremble trying to remember the sequence of my steps. The water settles around as I fall.
Perhaps it’s a lack of honesty that keeps me wandering over this pock marked terrain of stone and water. What I call silence and meditation is not at all like that. It’s roiling with voices and clamoring for attention. If I were truly honest about it, my words would not be so abstract, my vision featureless. Yes, today my back is aching and blood is pooling in my hands and feet. Reels of memory too fragile to withstand recall, dissolve in anonymity. I know what’s in them, but can’t call them out. Death looks slightly more familiar.
In time I’ll learn to trust.
About Yitna Firdyiwek
Yitna Firdyiwek is an Instructional Designer in the Office of Technology Strategies in the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. Until recently, he was with the University's Information Technology Services where he worked as Instructional Technology Advisor in the Scholarly Technology Group.
Yitna has a PhD in Instructional Technology from the Curry School and two Masters, one in Linguistics (George Mason University) and one in Creative Writing (Brown University).
From 1997-2009 he was actively involved in the University of Virginia's Teaching + Technology Initiative. He also worked with UVaCollab, the University's Learning Management System, where he developed the "interactive syllabus" project. He also focused on integrating external applications into the University's LMS. He is currently involved with learning technology initiatives and works with instructors in the College of Arts and Sciences on the design, development, and implementation of innovative approaches to technology integration in undergraduate courses.
Yitna is interested in the use of ePortfolios for reflective learning and authentic assessment, and has published collaboratively on these topics. He is also interested in practical designs for efficient teaching and learning management systems, as well as improvements of technology enhanced classroom environments.
When he is able to, Yitna keeps one foot in the undergraduate classroom developing and teaching a reading and writing course in the history and philosophy of technology.
Yitna is a naturalized US citizen (native of Ethiopia), and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
