This isn’t about hypocrisy so much as teaching. Most Saturdays I tutor a student in English, and we go over rules, structures, and ideas that are essential to writing. Understanding something well enough to teach it is a lot different from understanding it well enough to use it, and poses a unique challenge. I keep asking myself if I’m abiding by the principles I’m teaching. Whether in writing, in ethics, in gaming, or in communication. And the answer is usually “Sometimes.”
Nobody’s perfect, but I recognize the need to do it all the time. If it’s worth teaching, it’s worth doing. It’s why we get annoyed when someone who advocates kindness proves to be a bully online, even just once or twice. There’s a sense of catching them in the act. Lately I find myself so caught up in the work of all this that I’ve been neglecting the important relationships, a civilian version of the thesis blues. It’s something I’m gonna work on. Hurray for work/life balance.
I’m still going strong on VEDA, and learning a lot about video and presentation as I do. This song is probably my favourite from this week.
Now I’m gonna go and relax and talk wtih some people. Do you always practice what you preach?
