‘play school’

We have learned to ‘play school’…
We have learned to pretend to be learning,
___ so that we can satisfy others expectations of what ‘means’ to have learned.

Meanwhile, what happened to play?
Real play…
___ the do it because it’s fun
___ ___ and because I’m interested in it
___ ___ ___ because it stimulates me
___ ___ ___ ___ kind of play.
Which also happens to be the kind of play that results in learning
___ but is not engaged to satisfy learning,
___ ___ but to satisfy pleasure,
___ ___ ___ or curiosity.

It’s like reading…
How many of us used to love to read?
How many of us still do?
Did we find other diversions that we love more?
Or was it the expectation that we learn something from our reading…
___ not just any something,
___ ___ but the certain something
___ ___ ___ that he/she/they wanted us to learn.

What, then, do we really learn?
To please others?
To deny our own curiosities?
To fall out of love with that which we used to love?

I, for one, enjoy school…
___ minus the deadlines,
___ ___ and the expectation to reach pre-determined outcomes.
I enjoy school
___ because I like learning.
I like learning
___ because I love the way my head feels
___ ___ when it’s seems ready to implode
___ ___ ___ with all the cool stuff going on inside it.

*Inspired by Pay Attenion, found via Daily Sense.

rant: the resolution waiting game

I like goals. I dislike resolutions. New Year’s resolutions specifically. They go a little something like this…

Spend the last day(s) of December reflecting on the prior year. Identify one or more things that you want to change. Make sure they’re significant enough so you can feel accomplished when you succeed. But not so significant as to set yourself up for failure. Set a start date of January First. Celebrate the last hour(s) of the old year with general debauchery and proclamations of how great the new year will be.

Wake up January First and do one of two things:

1. Succeed.
2. Fail.

I’ve no issue with either success or failure. Each have their purpose. I do, however, have issue with waiting to start working toward some goal, whether ginormous or itsy bitsy, on some day that is rather arbitrary in the greater scheme of time. Days, months, years are just markers that while relevant to the documentation of historical occurrences and the planning of future events, are less meaningful than both history and future.

January 1, 2000-whatever ain’t nuthin’ but a number.

Whether you hope to make a lifestyle change or launch into a new project, does it really matter if the start date coincides with something so arbitrary? January First may be generally accepted as the dawn of a new year, but are the mechanics that change the dial from ’08 to ’09 really any more significant than those that change it from 2:59 to 3:00? Set a goal and start it today. Sure, today is January First, but what if today was April 17? Or August 29? Or December  23?

Celebrate beginnings.

But don’t wait for them.