When people ask me what they will learn in my upcoming online Coaching for Textile Artists class I usually say, “I don’t know what you will learn. I only know what I will teach.” My hope is always that my students will learn far more than I had imagined.

Recently people have begun to ask me what I will teach in the course. I find myself hesitant to say. It is not that I don’t know; rather it is a worry that if I say, somehow the mystery of learning will be eroded.

Too often I think our need to succeed limits our ability to learn. When I was a graduate student a frequent question was, “Will this be on the final?” The question implied that studying for exams was more important than learning. Sadly, given the competitive nature of advanced education today it makes perfect sense that students would be overly concerned about marks. Luckily, in this coaching course there will be no marks so students can focus on learning.

Having said that, I understand about being a good consumer. I understand that people may be looking for something very specific and need to be assured that the course will address their needs. I also understand that asking about content is a way to get a sense of me as a teacher. Therefore, I have decided to be more responsive without giving away all the surprises. Here is a list of topics for the weekly lessons:

Week 1: Claiming Your Personal Style

Week 2: Developing Daily Rituals to Foster Your Creativity

Week 3: Making Your Work Meaningful

Week 4: Deciding What to Do

Week 5: Working When You’re Too Busy to Work

Week 6: Short Circuiting Negative Messages

Week 7: Doing Your Work

Week 8: Anxiety Antidotes

Week 9: What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

Week 10: Maintaining Hope

Week 11: Finishing, Showing, Selling and Other Ways of Sharing Your Work

Week 12: Sustaining Your Creative Life

Each week I will present a lesson and pose several questions. I will also suggest optional activities. The students will each respond to one question. I will comment on the student responses as a means of drawing ideas together. The student responses and my comments will be posted for the whole class. There will also be opportunities for students to comment to one another. It will also be possible to share images of creative work.

My goal for the course is to build confidence, decrease procrastination, establish regular work schedules, and encourage completing work. I assume that everyone who takes the course will be both capable and motivated to try something different. The course will assist in building important skills for maintaining a creative life. However, perhaps more important, it will provide time for personal reflection.

Will there still be surprises? I think so. Who shows up, how people respond to the material and one another and how people leap ahead will all be surprises. I am sure there will be other revelations as well. I can hardly wait!

© C O P Y R I G H T   2 0 0 7.  Mary Sullivan Holdgrafer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.