Resilience

As inspired by Sherman Alexie's remarkable The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:

• What is resilience? Can it be taught? Are we born with it? If it can be taught, how? How can the arts be used to teach it?
• Perhaps what the arts provide is space. Space that is not normally offered students in a structured or enticing way. Given more space, students and people have more opportunities to release and express themselves, as well as receive praise for their expressions. Like through a piece of art, a play, a poem, or even a blog.
  
• If you are in a burning house (a reservation, a low-income community), do you decide to leave? If so, when? Or do you remain and put out fires?
• If in that burning house, and you have limited time to save things, do you grab one person or thing to come along with you? Like saving that one brilliant student from the refugee camp, etc.? Why labor to save them rather than put all your energy into containing the bits of fire you can?