I’m not in the habit of butting into EVERY conversation yet there are some that seem to beg for my engagement. What is it that compels some of us to participate in a way that might be mistaken for intrusion into the “business of others”? Some cue ignites our inner urge to engage. Maybe we mistakenly feel invited or are losing our sense of separation. Empathy itself is a form of close listening and we are helpless to resist and may actually NEED within ourselves to be active to understand. Having been around life-guards and swim instructors for years through Leslie’s job, I think some people thrive on walking in without knocking as actually a form of deep respect for the world needing their help.

It’s possible my troubles in school were a foolish expression of independence that disallowed receiving assistance? Teachers were trying help and I read “intrusion.” Through illness I’ve learned that dependence is a form of gracefulness. A form of receptivity that may be the balance to my need to intrude being a gesture of giving. It could be that xMOOCs are the sort incomplete object I imagined the one-way nature of school to be? Years of listening restlessly to be asked to participate, not just take tests and write empty essays and reports. Again I’m struggling to make sense–sorry.