Underneath

Here's what I did today:

• watered and fed the chickens
• gave the dog a bath
• proofread a letter for spelling and punctuation
• drove Zach into the city, to the Aquarium
• laundry
• food shopping
• made a pot of soup
• knit a bit
• finished reading a novel

On the surface, things were peaceful, productive, even cheerful.  But, things were different underneath. Here's what I thought about:

The other day I read an article called 9 Essential Skills Kids Should Learn.  I liked it for the most part.  The only point that I disagreed with was no. 9 "Dealing With Change".  The author believes that this may be the most important skill for kids, as we live in a constantly and rapidly changing world. The most adaptable kids will have a competitive edge compared to those who resist and fear change.  The assumption here, of course, is that change is good.  The underlying belief of society is that progress is the way to something better.  Is it? There are now1 in 3 people with cancer, we are in the midst of an energy crisis, global warming, and worldwide economic depression. There is a constant threat of nuclear war, weapons of mass destruction, and radiation accidents. 1 in 10 people are on anti-depressants (including children).  Approximately 1 million people die in automobile accidents each year (40,000 in the US alone--which is the equivalent of a plane load of people dying for 6,029 consecutive days).  People everywhere are plugged-in to cell phones, computers, iPods, and televisions, and tuned out from dealing with each other.

What if we're wrong, and progress is not the way to something better?  What if it's simply the way to bigger profits?

Anger and fear used to be the catalysts for the kinds of changes that led to true progress (rather than merely wealth), now they are considered dirty words.

Here's something that should frighten us and make us angry:  even with all of our advancements and progress, our Smart Phones,  iPads, and high speed trains, 15 million children die from hunger every year.  If only those poor souls had some money to spend, perhaps we might find a way to feed them.

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In the beginning of the Little Prince, the narrator tells about two drawings that he did when he was six years old.  The grown-ups he showed them to didn't "get" what they were:

The grown-ups advised me to put away my drawings...and apply myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar.  That is why I abandoned, at the age of six, a magnificent career as an artist.

Of course, there is some humor in his explanation, :-)  but there is truth too. There is a wide chasm between learning and education.  It is possible, for example, to learn a vast amount from MIT's free online course materials.  In the end you will be a learned person.  However, you will not have a degree.  You must pay money to obtain that.  Then you will be educated. I have read that education emerged in the 12th century as a  "way of conforming literacy for the purpose of social control."  In  the 19th century education saw a huge expansion with the Industrial Revolution.  It became the means by which the workforce sought better jobs.  (Isn't it interesting that education uses the metaphors of  industry such as delivery, access and provision?)


Learning is something different.  Whereas education is imposed upon a person from the outside, learning is an inner work.  It comes from within a person's own need and desire.  

::

As I stirred the soup, and knit some socks, and washed the clothes, no one knew these thoughts of mine, the life underneath the daily tasks.