Plum Creek Literacy Festival, or Why I Spent My Weekend With Cramped Legs

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the Plum Creek Literacy Festival in Seward, Nebraska with 5 amazing friends and 2 crazy professors (seriously, I don't know how they survived the trip. They had to have been nuts to put up with us that long!)

"But, Jess," you wonder, "Why in the world would you want to drive 14.5 hours up to Nebraska, go to a day's worth of sessions, then drive all that way back...when Austin was having its own book festival this weekend? You didn't have to go all that way, and you certainly wouldn't have had to pay as much as you did for the experience of enjoying books and reading."

Fair point. But I say: Why not?

Why not go to a place where the first thing you see when you walk into the student center on Concordia University Nebraska's campus is all the authors you wanted to meet and get autographs from? I wasn't even done picking up my packet of stuff at Registration and I could see the authors spread out at all these little tables all over the place. I ran to the "bookstore" set up next to registration to make sure that the authors would have something to sign. I ONLY bought 2, which has to be some kind of record for me, but it wasn't for lack of variety or trying.

Why not go and be surprised that one of your favorite YA lit authors, Neal Shusterman, can answer your question during a session? I had always wondered about where the emotions behind the Skinjacker trilogy came from, and now my burning curiosity has been satisfied. He was engaging, dynamic, and funny...a Storyman in every way. (I added even more of his books to my reading list and will probably have to go find them all very soon.)

Why not go to hear your current favorite children's lit author, Judy Schachner, discuss everything from life as a kid to her own kids to her kittens? (And everything in-between, of course). Her creativity and zeal for life are something that I love about her and her writing. Every kiddo I've read Skippyjon Jones books with (and that includes that host family that I stayed with last night) has come away giggly and happy to have that experience. But then I don't think it's hard to capture the heart of a child when you've got the mindset of one and can channel it in such a brilliant way.

Why not go and find out how to get kids engaged in researching history through primary documents and comic books? Marc Tyler Nobleman was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't thought to go to his session, but after buying his book and getting him to sign it and talking to him a bit, I had to know. I consider myself a bit of a nerd...okay, maybe more than just a bit. I'm also writing about using comic books as literature for a paper for my Children's Literature class. I figured he'd be a good perspective on that issue, and I wasn't disappointed. Totally worth my time and money, especially the Batman book.

Why not go and laugh so hard you almost snort water out your nose? Okay, maybe that's a bit of a gross example, but Kevin Henkes was totally worth the risk. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse was one of my favorite books growing up and I'm glad to know that he's still making wonderfully illustrated books for everyone to enjoy. Oh, and he's funny. And his new book is awesome.

Why not go and learn strategies that you know you'll use when you teach someday? This lady they call the Book Whisperer gave me wonderful ideas on how to get my future students to read. I will carry those tips with me wherever I go now. Thanks, Donalyn Miller! You were so nice, your advice was so sweet, and I'm glad to have learned about the #nerdybookclub now. (And that, ladies and gents, is probably the first and only time you will EVER see a hashtag in my blog or Facebook or anywhere...but if you have a Twitter, look that up and you won't be sorry!)

(This festival also had a session on dyslexia that I found very informative. The statistics are jaw-dropping and I had no idea that the indicators and warning signs can be seen so early. And all this stuff that I've listed was just the things I got to see. Anna Dewdney was there but I just could not get to her session in the morning and she was gone by the afternoon! And there were so many other speakers that I wanted to go to. I think they need another day!)

So, in conclusion, when life gives you an opportunity to road trip with friends and go places instead of staying home for the weekend, just GO. You'll be glad you did.

*Note: I am plugging these authors shamelessly because I love them and because this festival was seriously the high point of my college experience.

That's me and Judy. She is awesome.

Empathy

It is a wonderful blessing and a terrible curse. It is beautiful because it brings understanding, but horrific because of the heartache it can inflict. It's a rare find nowadays, in our self-centered, me-me-me world.

To be able to see both sides of an issue and feel, truly feel, compassion and understanding for both parties is not so common anymore. People are so quick to take sides and deal out judgment and want to be right that they don't want to look at the other side of an issue. They want to stay comfortable in feeling right, in feeling better, in feeling outraged and angry. Maybe even in their shock or disgust, they feel there is no other way, no other side to approach an issue from.

I believe a key component of empathy is acknowledging your own sin, your own brokenness, your own struggles and disillusionments. When you've looked your own evils in the face, then you can see things a lot more clearly. The moral high ground you were standing on suddenly gets leveled. Your ego deflates. Your rage cools. Your surprise turns to sad acknowledgment. You know that the darkness isn't just out there, but also inside and needing to be fixed.

I've been seeing a lot of instances lately of people not wanting to deal with the fact that there are two sides to every issue and that the side they are standing on may not be entirely right. Everyone is in need of mercy, and everyone is capable of horrific acts of evil. Both are facts I try to carry with me daily in the face of what seems to be increasing darkness in this very ugly, sinful world.

Who allows us to look at our evils? We don't look of our own volition. If left to our own devices, we would continue to pretend that the evils inside just aren't there.

There's a reason Jesus said to take the plank out of your own eye before taking the speck out of your neighbor's. It's not our place to judge another for the crimes they've committed. We have to let Jesus clean up our own mess first before we can even think about what's going on with others, and even then it's still not our place to judge them.

Empathy looks at others, not in judgment, but in compassion. It desires that same clean-up for others that it has experienced. It hopes that God will work ALL things for good, not just the good things. It wants that lost sheep to be found. Empathy starts with, "Lord, have mercy."