When I was about 3 1/2 years old, my Dad got a new job which meant a move from Cleveland to Pittsburg. As the oral tradition tells it, I had two questions before I “agreed” to the move.
Did Pittsburg have corn on the cob? And, did they have Romper Room?
It might have been a sign. I’ve spent a whole lot of my time since then learning.
After Pittsburg came St. Louis, where there was no public kindergarten. There was a ballet teacher but she was scary and I didn’t want to pretend to be a helicopter!
I started first grade able to count to 10 and write my name, which, in this time would be considered woefully behind the curve.
Had I known about Heaven, I would have thought it was first grade and assumed that Mrs. McKnight was God. I’ve pretty much been at it ever since.
It feels like the pace is picking up a bit in these days and, somewhere in my consciousness, the voices have awakened again.
The Muse is delighted.
The Critic, not so much.
We’ll let the Critic go first as she is decidedly the loudest.
No! Run! Very Scary! People like us don’t think things like this! What will other people think?
Perhaps you’ve met.
The Muse, on the other hand, has taken to quoting my friend Sam Bennett.
Oh!
To get the full effect, tip your head slightly to one side and, with rounded lips and a little lift to your voice…
Oh! (Like curious surprise…)
They’re keeping me up, nights, those two, which is no particular surprise. You see, they’re both trying to help.
The Critic believes that we know what’s safe by the fact that it’s familiar. That we’ve lived through it before. Preferably many, many generations of before. (But, sometimes, those things didn’t really work very well at all… they were only familiar.)
The Muse, on the other hand, likes possibilities. She’s a What if? kind of girl.
Here’s what kind of got left out on much of my long educational path…
I get to choose!
And here’s the really, really good news…
So do you!
There is a bit of a ya-but to this story, though.
It works better when we choose out of fierce compassion. When we choose out of the most good for the most people. When we choose empowerment rather than domination and subjugation.
So, that’s pretty much my what these days, sprinkled with a fair amount of STARDUST!
There’s more how coming soon.
For now, though… homework! And blessings for your learning.
ps… “ya-but” was one of our son’s favorite phrases when he was about 14 or 15. I think he caught on to the choosing thing early!
pps… the painting is deep underlayers of something which no longer exists in that form. It’s known as, “Oh!”