letters to my class

Dear Historians,

I remember exactly where I was 22 years ago. I think most people who were alive do as well. At the time, I think we all knew that the world was going to change. In how our country related to other countries and in how we thought about safety and security.

And it has. And it’s easy to forget about all these changes because they’ve happened so slowly over the last twenty-two years (while also seeming to happen all at once).

That’s why we study history. It’s easy to accept the world we live in as the way it’s supposed to be. But history teaches us that today is the result of complex causes of the past. And is only one of many possible worlds.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Consumers,

You don’t have to look very far on the internet to see websites ranking products and explaining which of them is the best and why. These sites go to great lengths to investigate the products.

And, for some reason, we’re all really convinced that we really have to have the best vacuum or the best razor.

Because we crave meaning in everything we do. And we think the best things will bring the most meaning. But things don’t create meaning at all. We do. In how we use them and, most importantly, in how much joy and attention we bring to the experience. 

And you can do that with your great grandfather’s straight razor, the latest and fanciest five-blade monstrosity, or a cheap twin-blade Bic.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Writers,

Those famed philosophers the Barenaked Ladies remind us, “It’s all been done.” And the slightly more famous John Lennon said, “There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known.” And it’s true that there have been one hundred billion humans on this earth besides us. And they’ve said and done a lot of things.

But there’s still a place for us. Even if we sing songs that have already been sung, the way we sing them is unique to who we are and where we’ve been. And no one has ever done it just like us and no one ever will. 

If we sing a song as our song, the world will stop everything to hear it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Scientists,

We’ve been tracking shadows and how they change throughout the day. Because a shadow, not the thing itself, is often the best way to understand something. Especially if that something is as big, bright, and far away as the sun. 

Scientists often study a thing by studying the stuff around the thing–the shadow it casts, the footprints it leaves behind, the twinkling of the light that it emits.

One thing scientists believe is that the mysteries of the world can be known. But the world does not give them up easily. We have to work for it. And we have to find creative ways of discovering it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Bowlers,

I went bowling this weekend. (Don’t ask about my score.) I’m old enough that I learned how to keep score on clear plastic score sheets that projected through thick smoke onto the screens above the lanes.

It’s all automated now. But I still think learning how to keep score in bowling is one of the most useful things I’ve learned. 

Not because I still use it, but because it taught me that each thing we do has rules to learn. And if we want to play, we need to learn them. Sometimes they’re hidden, and sometimes they’re strange. But they tell us something about the heart of the game. And though it’s more work, that makes it more fun.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Readers,

Craig Arnold wrote a poem called “Meditation on a Grapefruit” and every time I eat a grapefruit I say some lines from that poem in my head. I don’t eat a lot of grapefruit, and it’s a poem, so it’s maybe not really about grapefruit, but the words make my grapefruit taste more like grapefruit.

J. Patrick Lewis wrote a poem about papercuts called “The Unkindest Cut” and anytime I or anyone near me slices their finger with paper, I recite it. When people first hear it, they give me a strange look, but my children love it.

If you surround yourselves with words and poetry, you’ll always have a soundtrack to life. And you’ll more deeply know the pains and joys that make it up.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Bloomers,

The lilies in our backyard have turned to woody stems. Just a couple weeks ago they were blazing orange blooms. And it makes me feel a little bad, like I should have enjoyed them more while they were in bloom.

But I take comfort in knowing that they’ll return next summer. And if they don’t, I know we will replace them with something else.

Sometimes we’re blooming. Sometimes we’re dormant. Sometimes we get replaced by something else. Life is about enjoying what surrounds us, but it’s also about looking hopefully forward to what’s to come and ruefully back on what was.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Other People,

Sometimes my family will go to a museum, amusement park, or pumpkin patch on the weekend and there will be a lot of traffic, no parking, and it will be super crowded, and I’ll complain about all the other people.

And then when we finally park, it is often next to another Subaru–same model and trim. And the family that jumps out of it is also the same model and trim as us. And sometimes that other dad  (who I can also tell isn’t too happy about things) is wearing the exact same shirt as me.

Other people are a lot like us. They want the same things we do. And they have as much right to them as we do.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Friends,

I talk to a lot of people who put pen to paper and they all seem to have their own favorite type of pen. Because it all depends on what you’re looking for. Some prefer durability or reliability or how it feels in their hand or how it looks on the paper.

Friends are kind of like pens. There are a few essential qualities that make a good friend–honesty, loyalty, respect–but beyond that a lot of it is personal preference.

Which is a good thing, because some of us are ballpoint, some of us are gel, and some of us are rollerball. But no matter what, there’s someone out there who is looking for a friend just like us.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Walkers,

I hiked on Saturday and was completely surrounded by awe-invoking nature–clouds thunderheading to the heavens, crickets chirping and dancing, and the bluest skies you’ll ever see filtered through green quaking aspen leaves. But I spent most of the hike with my eyes fixed on the trail, watching one foot clomp in front of the other.

Life’s kind of that way too. We’re all the time surrounded by beauty and wonder, but we have our own path that we’re walking. And it’s important to keep our eyes on where we’re going so we make sure we get there.

But we have to remember all that surrounds us. And, every once in a while, stop and take in a big breath of the beauty and wonder.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt