Day 95: Robert Wilder
“I really like to go into situations, especially with children, and see how they look at things fresh from a new standpoint, and that really inspires me to look at things in a better, open way.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Robert, for agreeing to do the interview today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Robert Wilder: Yeah, I’m Robert Wilder. I live in Santé Fe, New Mexico, and I’m a teacher and a writer.
Toni: Well thank you! When you think about that word inspiration, Robert, who do you inspire and how do you do that?
Robert: Well you know, Toni, I would always say that I hope to inspire people; I don’t know. As a teacher, I think a lot of times you make investments that you never see pay off, right? I’m always hoping I inspire people, but I would never claim that my success rate is 100%.
Most of the time who I’m dealing with are people who are … Whether they’re kindergarten kids learning to read or whether they’re 60-year-old people writing a memoir, I try to inspire all kinds of people who want to sort of have a voice in the world, usually through writing.
The way I think … one of my ideas about that is to meet them on their own terms, which means if I have a kid who is in high school, is in an American Literature class and he wants to write a Science Fiction story about how Hamlet was really an alien, then I’m really going to try to meet him where he’s sitting rather than try to turn him into something that I think he should be.
I think that’s true for all the people that I work with, that I want to see where they’re coming from and work from that place rather than imposing my idea of what they should be or what they should write, or what language they should use. That’s pretty much how I approach all the people I work with.
Toni: And so when you are inspiring others, it’s really to just kind of let them be who they are as much as they can within the confines of which you’re working with them.
Robert: Yeah, exactly. I think a lot of that is listening and a lot of that is really trying to understand their life through their point of view, and you know … The other way I do it, you know, which is maybe a little bit more subtle, is through modeling that.
So in other words, for me to get up and write every day and work in the craft that I’m teaching, I think, is also hopefully encouraging to the people I work with. So they know when I go into a student classroom full of 17-year-old kids and I tell them that I was at my desk at 5:30 in the morning struggling with the same issues of sentence-making that they are, I would hope they see that that’s sort of an inspirational idea that I’m working alongside them, that I’m not just standing above them and talking at them.
Toni: How do think being that way and setting that example helps others to explore their own potential?
Robert: Well, I think you know … I always tell students, again, no matter the age, that if I can do it, they can do it. I wasn’t raised to be a writer or a teacher or an artist. I really was raised to be a banker. There weren’t a lot of books at my house; there weren’t a lot of sort of intellectual discussions, so I had to find my own way.
I feel like, I have two children, I teach high school, I also do other teaching. I’m writing all the time. I’m doing a lot in my life, and I want to show people, especially parents a lot, that if I can get my pages done with two kids and the wife and a mortgage and a couple jobs and stress in my life, that they can, too. So I’m hoping that they see that if I can carve out time in my life to be an artist, no matter how busy I am, that it’s possible for them as well.
Toni: So it’s really showing them that it can be possible, and that it takes a lot of hard work, so you really are setting that example.
Robert: I’m trying, and I really think it is true. I hear people when they come to me and they say “Oh, I can’t do this, I can’t do that.” I sit down and say “Well, let’s talk about that. Let’s look at my life or maybe some other people I know and I really think if I can get things written I think anybody can.”
Toni: Well, let’s go to you then. What do you need to be inspired?
Robert: You know, I’ve looked at the question a lot. I feel right now I need time, but I don’t think that’s a good answer.
First of all, I think I need to be in the presence of art, whether it’s a great book, whether it’s visual arts, whether it’s music. I need to be around sort of art pretty much a lot in my life, so if I feel like I’m not around that, I will seek that out. Luckily, I live in a place that is culturally rich, so I can go do that. In fact, yesterday I went to an exhibit of textiles at the Museum of Folk Art in Santé Fe. I was just incredibly moved by that. It made me want to get back to my notebook.
The other thing I think I need is I need to get … I find myself, the way I get inspired – I’m sort of an old school person – is by working. For me to sit around and sort of wait for the muse, I think, is not successful for me. I think if I sit down every day, or as close as I can to every day, and get those gears moving, all that stuff comes back to me.
So for me, it’s out of habit and discipline, and that’s how I get inspired is by going back over and over to the place that I enjoy the most which is in the middle of working.
Toni: When you are looking for that inspiration and, you know, you’re at that place where it’s like “Oh, you know, I’m feeling the need to get up, stretch the legs and look for a little inspiration myself” … you said, for example, that you like to be in the presence of art. Are there tools or methodologies that you also may reach for when you … maybe when you’re not working that inspire you?
Robert: Well, you know, one of the things I do when I’m not working is I really try to pay attention, and I know that sounds very simple. For instance — and I think that’s the great thing – a lot of my writing has centered around my family and my children, and I think for me it’s to be awake in the world. I think it’s really important.
So for instance, yesterday when I went to that show on the textiles in the Museum of Folk Art, I brought my 13-year-old daughter, Poppy, and I brought her friend Emily around with us too. It was very funny. I really asked them what did they see and what did they think about these things, and that to me is a great inspiration around children because they don’t have any sort of script. They haven’t been informed by societal implications so much.
So when I showed them an ancient pair of underwear that was on display, what they said was hysterically funny, and it made me look at things in a totally different manner. I really like that. I really like to go into situations, especially with children, and see how they look at things fresh from a new standpoint, and that really inspires me to look at things in a better, open way.
Toni: Right. And when you are inspiring yourself and being inspired by others, what do you do to continuously explore your own potential?
Robert: Well, you know one of the things I do is try to be open to sort of new things. So for instance, if someone says “Would you like to try … would you like to write something about Billy the Kid” — and I’m not a historian, I’m not — I will be open to that. So I will say “You know what? I’ll give that a shot.”
I’m one of those people who will give everything a shot one time, you know, whether it’s writing about something, whether it’s attending something, if someone wants to go to a conference or visit this or go to a school that I’ve never been to before, that I really will try to be open to new experiences, even though if I’m terrified.
I did some teaching in Albuquerque at a school that only caters to pregnant teenage girls. It’s called New Futures. I was terrified to go down there; I almost bailed. But I told myself “You know what? Put yourself in a position of discomfort and see what happens. Just see what happens.”
Going down there was a terrifying experience being a teacher that doesn’t usually deal with that clientele, but it yielded such incredible things for me. So I try to put myself in that place of discomfort and try open things. Because I think that is a place where I really do get to know myself in ways that I don’t usually.
Toni: And having that experience and going through those types of experiences to explore your own potential, is that also then what you draw from when you’re trying to inspire others, in ways that they can continuously explore their own potential?
Robert: Absolutely, and I will tell those stories. I’m very open in my teaching. Again, whether it’s young kids or older people, I’m very sort of vulnerable in my teaching. I’m very transparent. If I had that opportunity, if I say “Yesterday I was really scared going into this situation, but here’s what happened.”
I lost a couple students over the summer in a fatal car accident, and it has been a horrific thing for everyone. But I tell stories about those kids to sort of remind myself about them, but also to remind the other people that they have a potential, they have a future that these other students no longer have, and that’s a very precious thing.
So I will tell those stories knowing that there will be some level of sort of awkwardness bringing that up, but I always think the risk to bring things up that you think are important far outweighs being cautious. I’d rather risk things and struggle then be cautious and never get to see any of that sort of potential or that fruit. So that’s sort of my philosophy as well.
Toni: Well, I’ll tell you what, Robert, you have been absolutely delightful to interview, and your perspective from a teacher’s point of view as well as a writer has been really helpful today. And I know the people that are listening to this or who will read your transcript will find that as well.
And I thank you for being as honest as you were in sharing your own thoughts on how you come at inspiration, what you need, and also what you do, and it sounds like it’s pretty powerful stuff. I really appreciate you taking the time to be part of the Get Inspired! Project today.
Robert: It was my great pleasure. Thanks for asking.
Toni: Thank you so much; take care.
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For more information about Robert Wilder: www.robertwilder.com
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