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Now We Welcome
The Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) wrote:
“And now let us welcome the new year,
full of things that have never been.”
As this new year and new semester begins, I’m crafting a course for district staff regarding our commitment to humanity, justice, belonging, and community. There are so many topics, so many resources! How do I winnow it all down to a nine-week class? There are stacks of books in my office, and around my house. What themes? Which articles, books, podcasts, or films will be most helpful to the people in the class?
Today I mused that creating a syllabus is like organizing a playlist for someone you really care about. What will they get into, even if the theme is new, genres never explored or actively avoided, but all the songs are what you love and want to share? What is important is the artistry, point of view, the beat. My son will turn down the car sound system because suddenly he realizes the lyrics will offend me. Luckily, I can’t really distinguish the lyrics, as he explains why he turned it off: he loves the beat.
The beat. The pulse. The energy. Back to the syllabus and thinking: I acknowledge how overwhelming it is to even try to understand so many complex things that we, and the young people in our lives, are faced with every day. Sometimes we certainly can’t “understand.” We can listen, get thoughtful, and realize new insights. Our empathy develops as we stay curious. We won’t all like the same music, we won’t all love the themes. We will learn and grow together as we dig deep into what is being revealed as we go through these times. We have live-action examples of racism, violence unleashed, violations of many amendments to the Constitution in our daily news.
I hope this course helps us imagine and create possibilities for our students that have never been, that we have long believed could be. But this class isn’t the only opportunity for that – If you have dreams, ideas or questions about ways to support humanity, justice, belonging, and community, please let me know.
I’d love to think with you.
A Promise: Daffodils will be here soon
Although we don’t get official recognition, April is Vermont’s Month of Mud. After a cold and fabulous season for snow sports, mud is for everyone. The most philosophical among us could write a sonnet or song. You may already be humming Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season’ as you read along.
As the sun shines longer each day, mud and sticks start transforming from inert to active; growing begins in earnest. The Vermont landscape kind of forces us to be resilient, to adapt to the conditions out our door. May this be a natural dose of courage—to climb the muddy hill to home.
I’m concerned about the impact these tumultuous times are having on our students, our teachers, all our parents, administrators, staff, and all our community members. How might we be kind and more careful as we navigate the political and social wild weather ahead together?
“The Declaration of Independence was written with a feather,” Dean Young reminds us in his poem “Belief in Magic.” I see the fragility of democracy in this line as well as the amazing strength of a quill. What bird contributed to our founding guardrails? Goose, swan, crow, owl, hawk, turkey, or eagle? I read that Thomas Jefferson raised special geese to keep him in writing implements.
Some of you may know the children’s books by Laura Numeroff: If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. These books offer an important observation about learning — one thing leads to another as curiosity and passion inspire. The nib of a goose feather wrote a document full of dreams of what could be — a nation, no less. A promise so many of us still seek. These times offer an invitation to be our best creative selves as we respond to all that is happening in the nation and our communities.
The daffodils are emerging slowly, surely. May their fragility and strength remind us—we are in this together and our courage emerges when we find what connects us. In Dean Young’s poem there is another line, “I believe reality is approximately 65% if.” If we realize there are so many more ways in which we are similar, we’ll emerge with the daffodils, strong and bright, as we meet what’s ahead.
As you know, Justice is just us.
vermilyanotes 