Thursday, June 16, 2016

Spin Against the Axis

"The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hard-wired for the ancient Greek," explains a fellow camper, gray-eyed Annabeth. "And the ADHD--you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's...Face it. You're a half-blood."

--Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
I love this quote. It's so empowering to those who have been labeled. I loved it the first time I read it, and any time I go back and read it again, I love it even more. This is the quote I was telling you about in my post about Proust and the Squid a few weeks ago. It's a great book, and if you're having trouble getting your child to read over the summer, I would highly suggest you read it too. It's by Maryanne Wolf. Fascinating stuff.

It was four years ago that I posted this originally. The quote is still as strong to me as it was when I first read it. This goes out to anyone who has ever struggled with reading, who has ever gotten in trouble (possibly--okay, probably--from me, even) for not being able to control yourself in the classroom. 

The world needs both the calm and collected thinkers as well as the warriors. You are the warriors. 

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