Does a new academic year conjure up thoughts of a fresh start and a clean slate?
Lots of us buy new notebooks and pens to get ready.
If we were living in the 1800s, we would literally have been using a clean slate.
Although in reality the slate wasn’t always 100% clean, as traces of what was there before sometimes remained even after wiping.
Perhaps that’s reflective of life in that when we embark on a fresh start, we can’t completely erase what happened before. Sometimes this reality discourages us.
But maybe we can use what we already have to our advantage?
My new journal in the attached photo reminds me of an example of this.
When the Star Wars team were filming on Skellig Michael, the local puffin birds kept wandering into scenes. To completely remove the puffins from the movie in post production was going to prove very expensive. Instead the film makers incorporated the puffin and a new creature, a Porg, a digitally altered puffin was born!
So I wish you a happy new academic year, and if you don’t have a completely clean slate, don’t let that overshadow you. Build on your past experiences to inspire something new!
Sinead Huskisson 