letters to my class

Dear Humans,

Major League Baseball is increasing the base size from 15 inches square to 18 inches square. It’s to avoid collisions between baserunners and fielders. But it might also encourage teams to steal more bases because it will shorten the distance between bases by four and a half inches.

Four and a half inches doesn’t seem like much, but if you’ve seen baseball you know that the difference between stealing second or getting tagged is often less than four and half inches. And that change might lead to other unforeseen changes.

Our world is full of little changes that lead to big things. One change leads to another and another and another. And soon reality–what we think of as normal for the current moment–becomes something completely different.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

I heard a former football player say something wise on the radio the other day. We don’t always look to gridiron giants for pearls of wisdom, but here it is: “Our nature will not make us great.”

We humans must work hard and do things we don’t want to do to become great. Discipline ourselves, challenge ourselves, and go beyond our comfort zones. Yes, we should be true to ourselves, but it’s more important that we’re true to the better selves that we’re capable of becoming.

And that’s what school (and sports) is all about–training ourselves to be better than we were yesterday. Learning things that don’t come naturally to us. Changing who we are so we’re more useful to this world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

On Sunday my family was eating ice cream cones outside in 60 degree weather.  The Sunday before that my family was huddled inside our house playing Clue because it was only 2 degrees.

The average February temperature in Denver is about 45 degrees. But the real world is all about variation. Weather changes. We keep close track of it and average it out to help us make predictions about the future. 

But–luckily, in my opinion–we don’t spend all of our time on the average. Many of our days are spent on variation–eating ice cream or playing Clue.

Today, of course, the forecasted temperature is 45 degrees.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

In France, they don’t just call French toast “toast,” they call it “pain perdu,” which translates into English as “lost bread.” On Sunday mornings I like to make French toast. Because I have a bunch of leftover bread from the week that I want to use up.

And that leftover bread I make French toast with is very lost–it’s stale, a little dried out, and not fit for a sandwich. So I soak it in a little egg and milk, fry it in butter, and top it with sweetener. 

Many of our best dishes come from that human urge to salvage something–to make something old new or to use up what we have. That’s what cooking is all about. And it’s something humans do really well. 

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

We get to make a lot of choices in life. So it’s important that we make good ones. But there are a lot of choices that life makes for us.

We choose where we live, but we don’t pick our neighbors. We choose where we work, but we don’t choose our coworkers. We choose who we love, but we don’t control how they change over the years. We choose to have children, but we don’t get to pick who they become in the world.

The things we can’t control are usually the best parts of life. But we’ll only realize that if we’re wise about the things we can.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

If you ever get bogged down by your own personal problems, you should read a geology book. It will remind you exactly how insignificant we are.

Earth has existed for 4.5 billion years. And it will continue to exist billions of years into the future. It was kind enough to (unknowingly) give our species a window of time to exist. And though we haven’t always been wise stewards of its resources, we have accomplished some great things.

We’ve multiplied to over 8 billion and spread all over. We’ve explored its deepest oceans and even left its atmosphere to view it from beyond. But our greatest achievement is our shared knowledge of our planet’s history. And the hard-won wisdom to see our own tiny part in it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Yesterday we came across that famous Carl Sandburg quote–“Time is the coin of your life. Spend it wisely.” And it’s true. How we spend our time is much, much more important than how we spend our money. Because, unlike money, we all have the same amount of time.

Now, some people have more freedom over their time than others (and that’s often related to money) and rich people do live longer than poor people. But we each get 24 hours in a day. And, whatever our life circumstances, we get to decide how we spend them.

So spend your time wisely. It is your most valuable possession. But also remember that time–like money and love–is best spent on others.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Sunday was National Puzzle Day. I love puzzles. Because puzzles have nice, tidy solutions. You put that last piece into the jigsaw puzzles or you finally unravel that tricky theme on a crossword–it’s a good feeling. 

But what happens in the real world is a lot different. The natural world–and the humans that live in it–do not have nice, tidy solutions. There is no answer key to get a hint. Sometimes the real world doesn’t even seem to have logical explanations.

That’s because the real world isn’t a puzzle at all. It’s a mystery. And there are no nice, tidy solutions to a mystery. And there’s no use really trying to solve it. The best we can do is help one another experience it more fully.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Humans are creatures of habits–both good and bad. We’re not very good at thinking logically and making the best choice; we mostly do what we’ve done before.

So our best hope is to pick up good ones. Many experts agree that one good habit is to say positive words to ourselves. It is as simple as waking up in the morning and saying to ourselves, “This will be a good day.”

It feels silly and it doesn’t seem like it will help much. But words have great power. They shape our perceptions of the world and they can shape our actions. Which just might lead to us, indeed, having a good day.

And if our words have such an impact on us, imagine how they affect others.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Good listeners know that other people have stories worth telling. And by listening, we might learn how their stories entwine with our own. But we have to really listen, not just wait until their mouths stop moving so we can start moving our own. 

You learn more with your ears than your mouth. But you really learn the most with your brain. We have to really think about what we’re told. But when our mouths are working, sometimes our brains stop.

So the best thing you can do when you’re listening is to pause. Really think about what a person said to you, and then respond. And the best response is usually a question.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt