Wednesday Ramble

The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.

T.H. White

The Once and Future King

Who knew when I boldly marched into the principal's office that March 23rd, 1965 to announce I was quitting school that I would become a lifelong learner? It was such a stupid thing to do. That was the year I turned 18, and I only had 3 months to go to graduate.  And it wasn't that I hated school so bad.  No, quitting was my way of getting back at my overly strict parents. Several years later it became one of my biggest regrets, but thankfully I had enough sense to go back to school and rectify it.  It wasn't easy going back to school at 30 for my GED or at 50 for my degree.  It wasn't easy working 9 to 5 and racing off to the city to attend the classes necessary to become a  certified substance abuse counselor.  None of it was easy, but I did it.

And during that time I attended classes to become an ordained Interfaith minister as well as bardic and ovate courses in an online Druid training school...New Order of Druids (NOD). And throughout the years I have studied Astrology and  Philosophy with the Rosicrucian Fellowship, Transpersonal Psychology from a school I no longer remember (it was so long ago) although I do have my certificate packed away someplace in the house, and Kabbalah.

On my own I have studied numerology, mythology, goddess,  runes, I Ching, alternative healing, and dreamwork as well as various paths--Celtic, Faery, Avalon, Huna, Orisa, and a wee bit of Asatru.  I've recently discovered Western African Spirituality and Tradition.   'The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition' by  Adama Doumbia is a book I cannot put down.  And I have yet to learn Tarot and crystals. 

That's a lot of learning, but I've had 68 years to do it in.

One important fact I have learned is that you are never too old and it is never too late to learn something new. There is just so much out there that you could do. It's up to you.  You can choose to learn new things or further your knowledge of things you previously learned, or you can choose to do nothing as the ladies' I attend the Center with.  Don't get me wrong.  I love them all, but they are so stuck, and I've grown tired of trying to dig them out.  None of them have a computer, nor do they want one. Yes, there ARE cons to owning a computer, but there is also so much out in the world that is just waiting to be learned.  And then I've offered to teach them how to get the most of their cell phones, but they are not interested. "Oh, I am too old," or "I can't be bothered," or, and I love this one, "I have better things to do with my time."  Yeah, like play bingo and watch jeopardy on television.

But I understand.  These are women a generation older than me who have never had a career. Some have never even had a job and are currently living off their deceased husband's social security, or if they did work, it was only for a short time here and there.  And yes, they are happy living their lives as they are.  So, who am I to try to push them into changing? Yet, in a way they are learning something new when I talk about the nutrition in the various foods or what alternatives are good for pain and blood pressure.  I share recipes with them and talk about caring for an aging pet.  And I learn from them as well and love when they share their tales of their generation or about how it was for their parents after they had immigrated into the US. 

Yes, each day we do learn something new.   Every day is a learning experience just waiting to happen.