I’m a big
believer in enlightenment. I’m not necessarily talking about Buddhist spiritual
enlightenment and karmic perfection. I’m talking about the oh moments. The
moment when understanding comes across someone’s face and they say, quite
simply, “Oh.” Sometimes it’s soft and drawn out. Other times it’s an
exclamation. More frequently the word is written on their faces as their eyes
light up and brows climb.
Those are
the teaching and writing moments I live for. To me, the oh moment is what teaching is all
about. Without those moments, teaching simply isn’t worth it. I purposely
structured all my teaching—along Socratic lines—to encourage as many of those
oh moments as possible. Moments of inquiry and understanding at their own
ability to answer the inquiry is what it’s about.
I like to think my writing has those moments, too. I want those moments to be there in the story. Otherwise, a story isn't worth reading.