A Literacy Experience

One literacy experience that made an impact on my life is the concept of being vs. non-being by author Tich Nhat Hanh. The idea that an object is not an object, or a chair is not a chair, seems questionable at first. A chair is a label, a word, and a series of graceful symbolic letters that we have invented to give meaning to that which already exists. Consider for a moment that the chair is everything that doesn’t exist. It is the designer who came up with the idea of how to shape it. It is the craftsman who carved the detail. It is the manufacturer who supplied the glue. It is the sawmill operator who planed the surface of the wood. It is the tree itself which once grew in the forest. What began as a simple idea has shaped the way I look at the world. Literacy has allowed me to discover new meaning in the obvious, to relate to the unknown and the unfamiliar, and to freely associate ideas while seeing more sides of an issue. I openly welcome the perspective of others with tolerance. Thank you Tich Nhat Hanh. So what is a chair? It simply is.