Going back to school...

My curriculum in high school sucked big time. I mean it. It S-U-C-K-E-D SUCKED!
We paid the Revolutionary War lip service. Never studied the Civil War, never studied ancient civilizations, never studied other cultures. I look back at my school years with sorrow. Mostly for the lack of initiative, on my part as well as the part of the teachers. The teachers never had a passion for teaching. They searched high and low for a means to lip-service their way through the lessons. Not one teacher, with the exception of my music teacher, had any passion to teach.

So, where do I find the passion to learn? Recently? From watching "Boy Meets World". I kid you not! I've been watching the first two seasons of this show on DVD and heard a very wonderful description from William Daniels' character George Feeny about what education is really about. To learn to think for ourselves. Education is not about a bunch of memorized facts and dates, but about learning to analyze information and to acquire knowledge in the form of 'thinking'. I never really went to college, ( a few semesters, but they don't count) because my desire to learn was never really 'there'. It was never stirred in high school, never given birth. I never knew what I wanted to major in, never really searched my mind for a desire in what kind of career I wanted. Writing? Sure. I write stories, I love words, but back then in high school, it was not something I was encouraged to pursue. I was told it was a dream world and I needed to go the realistic route. Okay. If I couldn't write, I had absolutely no idea what else to do with my life. My desire to learn was stunted in high school.

Now, all I want to do is learn. I would LOVE to go back to school and study history, world civilizations, world religions, mythology, military history, Egyptian and Greek history, Roman history, Celtic history. My desire is so ravenous...but...with this 'situation' regarding my health, that desire is now put on hold, at least as far as a structured school atmosphere/curriculum. I can still teach myself. I can still study on my own time.

I invested in a digital recorder yesterday. Forty bucks. 600 hours. I will learn to make notes from the books I study and how to transfer them, if possible, to CD's so I can listen to that information again and again, learn to apply it to my life, learn what happened centuries ago for us to be where we're at today. Greek civilization is one area of study that I feel very passionate about. I want to study Aristotle, Plato, Socrates. I want to study Sophocles' plays. I want to study the Egyptian pantheon and how that culture lived and worked and played. I have always been fascinated with Egyptian artifacts and writings.

I want to study military history, and "The Art of War". I want to learn...because in that learning, I can write better stories. "The Art of War" can be applied to life, how to deal with confrontation. I want to study the Hindu pantheon, to learn how other cultures think and believe. To love God and Love People, we need to understand those people. When Jesus said to "Love your neighbor", I'm sure we all know that he wasn't just speaking about the people next door or down the street, but those people across the ocean, who may have differing beliefs, but in whose beliefs there are nuggets of truth.

Understanding our fellow neighbors is the first step to loving them. Asking for Wisdom, for Sophia (Yes, Wisdom is feminine...dig it) to grace us with her attributes is a worthy and loving gesture. I want to LEARN!

When I thought all I was dealing with was the need for a hysterectomy, I had determined to go back to school once the surgery was over and I was healed. In my former post, I described Death being the teacher and I was the student. So, in a way, the Universe banded together and said, "Ta-da...you're in school." I accept that, so these other lessons, the ones I mentioned above, are the extra-curricular activities...the extra credit endeavors I plan on diving into.

Life is so fricken full of wondrous things to learn. Why in heaven's name are we not doing so? If I knew in high school what I know now, I would have hit the books harder, I would found teachers who were sincere in their desire to teach, I would have gone to college and pursued a degree in something...be it History, English, Education, or all of the above. Maybe even chemistry or health. This 'situation' may have put a halt to actually being in a literal classroom with other students sitting at desks with textbooks open, but I can go to a library, I can utilize the Internet, I can buy used books on Amazon, including textbooks, and I can teach myself.

Watching "Boy Meets World" last night, I felt that stirring to learn all over again and it was incredible! It's not work, it's a joy. Okay, the homework may be tough, the lessons sometimes might be difficult to understand, but it gives us something to discuss. My first book to study is entitled: "The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior." It's a novel, based on a true story. I'm anxious to get on it. I have Norse Mythology, Celtic Mythology, Greek, Egyptian and Roman mythology, I have opportunities to invest in textbooks on ancient civilizations...all this information at my fingertips, and the question remains...just what the heck am I going to do with all of this?

Simple. Crack open the books, read, and take notes. Study, study, study.
And for entertaining reading, I'll throw in some Shakespeare, The Iliad and the Odyssey. I'll be posting things here as they speak to me, quoting, analyzing. It'll be fun. I'm looking forward to this. ;)

Rock on!