Write on Wheels

Anita (South Africa)

[reflection]

In the movement module, I didn’t get a chance to ride a bicycle, but the challenge to write while cycling stayed with me. I have realised that my cycling is almost always a journey to or from work. The travel progresses my writing by

• letting me feel free, moving faster than traffic-light-controlled cars while I wind along a path next to nature,

• making me feel grateful to have made the commitment to cycle that day, which helps me see the value of routine writing time,

• sometimes letting me chew over an incident or conversation, which can help me to make decisions,

• sometimes letting me empty my thoughts and dwell on the movement and changing landscape,

• sometimes playing with metaphors based on what I see, like the slow and subtle battle between the huge pine trees and the beautiful ivy growing up them. Are some of my teaching ideas beautiful to behold but ultimately detrimental to my students? These are the deep thoughts that probably have the power to shift my projects to those with more impact, importance, value.