See Beyond – July 2019

44 July/August 2019

It must have been second or third grade, sitting in

fear and frustration at the kitchen table, wishing

I knew how to spell. I had just asked my mom for

help spelling a BIG word, and then I heard the

dreaded phrase, (my nemesis)—“Look it up!”

I failed to look it up that day, postponing the

transformative insight that would improve my

life. Instead, I creatively constructed a sentence

using smaller words, ones I could spell. I feared

correction. I wanted to be right, approved of, and

celebrated for my imagination. My third-grade

teacher enforced correct spelling with a ruthless

red pen. I feared the red, bleeding corrections she

scrawled across the pages of my writing. So, the

strength of my stories hid in the catacombs of my

mind, waiting for someone wonderful to invent

Spell Check.

Today I look up words. “Hey Alexa, define melior-

ism for me.” (So, Easy!)

Photo credit © FrankMckenna

“Look It UP!” Or How I Developed

My Super Power

By Brian Oney