National Day on Writing

My photo of an ASU student. CC-BY 2.0

The National Council of Teachers of English created the National Day on Writing, "on the premise that writing is critical to literacy but needs greater attention and celebration." NDOW is celebrated yearly, on October 20th, and while I was serving as an assistant director of ASU Writing Programs, I had the privilege of organizing last year's celebration on the Tempe campus. Along with several colleagues, we planned to have members of our campus community share their responses to #WhyIWrite both on social media and on colorful origami squares. Over 200 people created squares for our quilts on October 20, 2015.

Photo by Bruce Matsunaga for ASU Department of English. CC-BY 2.0

The day's activities were cut short by rain, and we had to wait for the paper to dry out before our project's next phase. On October 31st, as Professors Shirley Rose and Maureen Daly Goggin chaired the annual Feminisms and Rhetorics conference on our campus, we began assembling these origami squares into "paper quilts," which we put on display near our Writing Programs offices.

My photo. CC-BY 2.0

As I sorted through these squares, selecting which ones to place in each quilt, I was profoundly moved again and again by the variety, thoughtfulness, and intimacy of responses. Many students wrote about using writing to learn, or to satisfy teacher expectations. But many more participants wrote about writing for self-expression, keeping in touch with loved ones, and preserving stories and traditions.

When I invited one university employee to share a reason why he writes, he regretfully told me that he doesn't really write--he is an accountant and only writes expense reports for his job. Well, that is writing! I told him. That kind of writing, which often doesn't get recognized as writing, is just as important as the kinds of writing we more readily recognize. I was grateful that he chose to make a square for our quilt.

Photo by Bruce Matsunaga for ASU Department of English. CC-BY 2.0

I was surprised by how many participants shared that writing helps them maintain their mental health. Sometimes, students wrote about how they use writing to create a better future for themselves and for others. A student who wrote "I write because 62 million girls don't have that chance" provided a sobering reminder that writing is a gift and a privilege not shared by everyone. That is why I am so proud to participate in the National Day on Writing. Through this celebration, we bring visibility to the importance of literacy and writing for everyone, regardless of their background, current circumstances, or plans for the future.

This cause is close to my heart. I invite you to celebrate National Day on Writing with me by sharing your responses to the theme of #WhyIWrite in the comments below and all over social media today.

Photo by Bruce Matsunaga for ASU Department of English. CC-BY 2.0 

My photo of Susan. Do not share without permission.

Not Live Blogging General Conference

Image: "Salt Lake Temple in Autumn" by Sascha Wenninger, (CC BY-SA 2.0)

I didn't live blog the Women's Session of conference last weekend, because I was watching it at my sister-in-law's stake center, along with my two other sisters-in-law and all my nieces but the youngest. It was a precious experience.

I fully intended to live blog my way though this conference weekend, as I have for the past few years. But my efforts to do so have been frustrated. I'm in the process of buying a house in Rexburg, and just renting a room meanwhile. Most of my stuff, including my desktop PC, is still in storage. And it turns out I can't use YouTube to cast a live stream from either my phone or my laptop to my TV. Thus, in order to watch conference on my TV, I had to plug my laptop in via an HDMI cable, which means I couldn't use it to type. So I had to choose between watching conference and not blogging, or listening to conference and blogging. After wasting too much of the Saturday morning session and the hours between it and the afternoon session struggling to get my tech to work the way I want it to, I reluctantly decided it's better to watch conference than to live blog it.

Not being able to blog during conference led me to ponder on the value of having done so. Blogging has been my way of note-taking. It's both easier for me than hand-writing notes, and also more communal. I love being able to share my thoughts on conference with the handful of folks who read my blog. Thinking about those people, and not just myself, altered the way I paid attention to conference. I don't know that the alteration was better, though it certainly wasn't worse. I have found it refreshing, though. And I've also really enjoyed the conversations that occasionally arise either in the comments here on my blog, or else on Facebook and elsewhere that I publish the blog.

This weekend I've been having a lot of fibromyalgia-related pain in my hands, possibly due to the rapid and frequent changes in the weather recently. Gripping a pen for long enough to take notes was decidedly unpleasant. So I didn't take any notes during conference sessions, and that made it harder for me to stay awake and attentive. I ended up doing some cleaning yesterday, and practiced tying a new bow-tie this morning (fortunately I made a passable bow by the time my hands hurt too much to continue). I'm doubly grateful for conference talk summaries, as well as the ability to watch and read conference talks at a later time, because I definitely don't remember any of the talks as well as I usually do.

Here, though, are some of the things that do stand out in my memory:

President Uchtdorf's "Fourth Floor, Last Door" talk during the Women's Session last weekend was wonderful. I appreciate his urging of us to press forward in following our spiritual promptings and gospel callings, even to the "fourth floor, last door." I guessed who the young woman was behind that last door, who pleaded with her mother to let the missionaries share their message, before he revealed that it was his beloved wife Harriet Uchtdorf. I did not learn until later that evening that one of the elders who came to her door to share the gospel is my great-uncle, Richard Kowallis.

President Uchtdorf's Saturday morning message also resonated with me. It was a great reminder of the plan of salvation, which is truly a plan of happiness. In that vein, too, was President Nelson's talk on joy and spiritual survival. I was glad that President Nelson taught plainly that we can have joy even in the midst of great hardship and suffering, without once suggesting that those who suffer from depression and anxiety are in any sense lacking in faith or righteousness. Joy is really a gift.

Elder Cook's talk in the Saturday afternoon session was direct, uncompromising, but also uplifting. I appreciated his stern yet loving reminder of the many different kinds of stumbling blocks we may encounter on our spiritual journey. I will certainly return to his message to ponder which stumbling blocks I am most prone to stubbing my toes on.

I confess that by the time Elder Christofferson stood at the podium, I had lost my battle with drowsiness. From the summary, though, I think I must place this one high on my list of talks to listen to soon (and Elder Yamashita's from this session as well). It is vital that we understand the nature of God's love, and I think Elder Christofferson is right that the adjective "unconditional" can be misleading. God's love is infinite, everlasting, and perfect. It is never in short supply, and will always be far more than sufficient for our needs. But we cannot abide in it unless we choose to do so, and in that sense (and only that sense) it is conditionally available to us.

Sister Reeves gave a great discourse on the power of repentance in the Sunday morning session, and I'll have to revisit that one too, because most of my thoughts on it were quickly diverted by Elder Ballard's talk, in which he spoke to those members of the church who are struggling with doubts. Quoting the apostle Peter, Elder Ballard asked, "to whom shall [you] go?" Now, when he said that, I stiffened in alarm--not so much for myself (though I've wrestled with many a troubling bit of doctrine or history) but for my friends whose faith crises or faith transitions have been acute and exacerbated by accusatory rhetoric from members of their own congregations and yes, not infrequently also by conference talks which could have been formulated with greater care. To my delighted surprise, Elder Ballard went on to specifically call out such lack of support from the membership to those whose journey along the path of discipleship has been arrested for one reason or another. It seems to me that he and many of his fellow general authorities have been doing something to listen to those members of the church who are struggling--I mean really listen to them! And to respond to their concerns more positively. In my experience, few of those I know in that situation are there because of unrighteousness or rebelliousness. They do not need admonition but nurture in truth and love--and patience! They need to have patience with human leaders and members, with ambiguous doctrine and troublesome history. And they need to receive patience from those who do not understand why they are troubled by things that so many members don't give a second thought to. Elder Robbins' talk built on a similar principle.

I loved Bishop Davies' and President Eyring's sermons on the joys of worship and Sabbath observance. Basically the whole Sunday morning session was full of Win.

I had to laugh when Elder Bednar made his list first thing in the Sunday afternoon session. I wanted to jump online and ask somebody to check if he's ever given a talk as a GA (or for that matter, when he was president of Ricks/BYU-I) that didn't include a list. I guess in that instance it was a good thing that I didn't have ready access to social media! It was, of course, a great talk on coming to know the Lord.

Then there's Elder Schmutz's talk. I believe this will go down in the annals of conference as one of the great ones, along side most of Elder Holland's sermons. I think it might be my favorite of this conference (though I still need to go back and watch/read the ones I missed due to tech or sleepiness problems). Elder Schmutz taught that while suffering is an unavoidable part of mortality, there is nothing inherently ennobling or sanctifying about it. Rather, suffering becomes ennobling and sanctifying when we consecrate our sorrows to Christ. Then, through the atonement, our suffering becomes transformative, and we can receive comfort and a greater measure of compassion, even in the midst of our afflictions. It really bothers me when people glorify suffering for its own sake. I have seen, in my own life and in the lives of those I know, that suffering can as easily be demeaning and destructive as it can be ennobling and sanctifying. It really is compassion--the pure love of Christ--that makes the difference.

By the time the next General Conference rolls around in April, I should be settled into a new home of my own, with plenty of space for my meager stuff, plus shenanigans. Today a friend on Facebook posted a photo of her and her daughter inside a "Conference fort." I don't have any kids as an excuse to build a Conference fort, but I think I'm just going to do it anyway. Because awesomeness is its own excuse.