Maslow & Me

Here we are, coming out of the holiday weekend... I, as it happens, don't celebrate any of those holidays, but I love watching the people who do. Dressed up, reverent, engaged in their process... It's all good.

Because I lack that ritual, I look for other places to belong. Those of you doing classes in Psych or Education (or presumably a variety of other fields) will know all about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. And you will know that there is a tier up in the middle of the hierarchy for BELONGING. For that human desire to be part of something larger. For a variety of reasons I often find this challenging. Part of it is the queer thing, of course, and a lot of it is just that I have often taken the windier branch of whatever road I happen to find myself traveling. This has worked out well, I suppose, but it has also made everything take longer (which is why I am only now treading the path of MFA grad student, I guess).

For me, it turns out that UB fills a big part of that tier. I see the bright white UB letters from the train station, or from around town, and I get the happies. I go to class and everything feels better (even if class is somewhat surreal, or somewhat harrowing, sometimes). For the first time in close to 20 years, I'm someplace I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to do. I belong here.

Part of this is that I am lucky enough to be in classes with people I like and respect. And a lot of it is that the instructors of my MFA program are so welcoming, and so warm, and so good at what they do. They know their stuff, but they are not bossy and full of themselves about it. They evolve along with us. And they teach by guiding and leading, not by arbitarily telling us what to do.

So thanks, UB, for being home. And happy holiday season, for those of you who celebrate in the spring.