New Tutelage

TO THINK

I like to understand and to learn as much as I can. Ever since I was a child, the idea of getting to the root cause of diverse ideas or events and understanding their complexities always appealed to me. Questions. I always had questions. Some answered, some neglected. Some that kept me up all night pondering life's mysteries and their purpose. I like to think. Think, think, think. About planning, about applying, about knowing. So I studied thinking at university. When I was 17, I enrolled in a Liberal Arts degree. History, philosophy, some theology, and literature were my chosen disciplines over those three years. Since, I have grown in yet more profound respect and passion for the reasoning, communication, and articulation of written and verbal thought. To seek and to understand. To ask and to discover. To reason and think critically about information before me, not just to memorize a prescribed meaning. To assess, evaluate and conclude with a broad depth of philosophical reasoning, and act on that basis, as contrasted with acting on isolated emotion and instinct.

TO SPEAK

Speaking. I also like to speak. As a child immersed in theatre classes and competitions, I very early on fell in love with talking a lot and talking to people, lots of them. To be on a stage with a captivated audience, hearing them laugh when intended, or even unprecedented. Hearing them sigh, maybe sniffle, or the roar of applause as they conclude together. It was a communal and exciting means of discovering an idea, emotion or, concept. Once I joined a Debate Society my passion for reason and speech only grew.

A CONVERSATION

Here we have an individual both obsessed with drama and the study of thought. Where does that take us? In an ideal world where humanity longed to learn, not merely to obtain a cashable income, but to genuinely understand, I would hope to follow my passion and become a TUTOR. Tutor for what you say? One's ability to think critically, for oneself, and navigate this through logical reason and oral, written, or physically expressive communication. To know, test that knowledge, and then express it in many forms. How? Through the art of one on one conversation and drama workshops. To engage in a conversation, to bounce out ideas in a logical and yet creatively impromptu manner is a skill as rich as gold. To be tested orally and put on the spot can measure intellect in a way a prescribed essay cannot.

NEW HEIGHTS

This passion of mine isn't just any tutoring method, no no, no. This tutoring method is based fundamentally on conversation, with the intent to incite and equip the skills for logic and reason. To deal with questions that arise spontaneously, the stages of logical inquiry and the arguments that evolve, the changing of sides and opinions, the splintering conclusions, and successive pathways. A substance only born from two people talking. The test of two discussing. A one-on-one conversation. The ability to express hypotheticals and paint a glorious picture of critical reasoning. To draw from different disciplines of knowledge, and use their fields to harmonize sound understanding of reality and truth. But it doesn't end here. Such thoughts, ideas, discoveries, and conclusions, can be adapted for the stage or the written word. Why this next step? To enable new-found ideas to be elevated to a higher level for an audience to receive. A theatrical stage is a means to showcase all that is from this one-on-one reasoning. Show and Tell taken to new heights. To converse is to show a comprehension of a question and an idea, not just a memorization of a formula not fully grasped. I believe a critical discussion of thought and speech, alongside creative expression, is refined by studying the Liberal Arts, and dramatic performance to allow them to shine and be shared.

WHY LIBERAL ARTS? AND DRAMA…?

Why do I believe these specific disciplines of study will fuel such an ability to think and speak? Aristotle, a time ago, taught on gifting and the need for oral rhetoric in our Society, as means of both persuasion and effective communication. Ethos, pathos, logos. Credibility, emotion, and reasoning, were his cornerstones for winning over the minds and hearts of those to whom he spoke. Such qualities were a means to discuss, share, debate, and reason. In studying the Liberal Arts, my pupils may learn to analyze the historical records of persuasion, philosophy, history, and logic that have evolved over thousands of years. These are the disciplines universities were founded upon, and to immerse oneself in them leads to an impeccable range of critical skills. Philosophy: is to learn to reason and discuss the nature of what is. History: the cause and effect of the events in the world. To trace today's blessings and failures chronologically back and understand how we came to be where we are today. Literature: the creative use of portraying ideas through allegory and emotion. The mystical way of communicating complexities in seemingly mundane or ordinary manners. Theology: the study of religions and their subsequent moral compass. The beauty of drama as essential to this membership for conversation is how it can provide that creative platform for communication. A medium that is easy for all to perceive and gain something. Not everyone will read a philosophical essay. More people may have the capacity to watch a play or a film and understand an idea or receive some sense of the message. This creative medium stretches the communication of thought so far and wide it can reach the whole of humanity, and delight and shock all those in the process. Drama allows people to connect, feel, perceive and understand in so many integrated ways. Plus, the very art of the dramatics itself requires one to go out of oneself and learn to improvise and gather thoughts into succinct narratives.

So let's abolish this split within a person, between being artistic or level-headed whose study desires become polarized into barbaric categories. Increased and well-rounded knowledge is in an integrated mind. A person who can use reason, and simultaneously can create. One who can understand, discuss and then listen. Flexibility, improvisation, genuine understanding, and perspective. An informed mind who can gather a range of integrated and yet different disciplines and use them to guide and constantly discern day-to-day reasoning. This critical mindset can allow one to become wise, and to share that wisdom through creative and beautiful expression.

THE MEMBERSHIP

For all this to work, my membership package would include one on one tutoring for each individual. Imagine a library filled with a lounge and fire and a big open window that looks out onto nature. A perfect setting to sit and talk. A place where one is to read and to question and discuss these ideas some more. Next door to this glorious room would be a small and blank theatre for the second phase of this education. To adapt these concepts through movement, speech, emotion, and more, bringing them to life for all to perceive.

All this I'm saying is to highlight my passion, briefly surmised as a wise man once stated:

"To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else." - Leonardo Da Vinci