letters to my class

Dear Humans,

My mother carried me for nine months and kept me alive for the first few years of my life when I was completely vulnerable. And then the hard part came. Because then the world asked her to put me out into the world.

So she dressed me in corduroy overalls and she spit on her thumb to rub the smudges off my face. And I went to school.

And the best times in my life were those moments when I was out in the world and I made my mother proud. When I made the winning shot, when I sang the beautiful song at the concert, when I brought home an A plus and put it on the fridge.

So whoever it is in your life who loves you like a mother–whoever has the job of presenting you to the world–do your best to make them proud.

I assure you there’s nothing better.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

We all want to do BIG things–build communities, become skilled at our jobs, and raise respectable children. But BIG things are just lots of little things stuck together.

When we see other people do BIG things, we don’t always see that. We think they’re supernaturally talented or special. But, if you look closely enough, you can see the seams where they stitched all those little pieces together to make the BIG thing.

But little things take time. Little things don’t win you much glory. And little things are hard to do. And that’s exactly how we know they’re so important.

So do the little things today. And if you keep doing them everyday, they will become BIG.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

We spend a lot of time trying to reach our own goals by making ourselves the best we can be. We practice, we do the unpleasant things that we know will help us in the long run, and we try our best.

But no accomplishes anything on their own. We all rely on the help of others. So maybe we ought to spend more time thinking about others than about ourselves.

Because a plant can only grow in the right conditions–good soil, enough water, and ample sunlight. And no matter how much the plant gets better at being a plant, if those conditions aren’t in place, the plant isn’t going to grow. 

We’re not plants, of course. But our conditions matter. And unlike plants, we can create the conditions for our own growth. We can create better communities for ourselves and others to thrive. And that might just be the best use of our time.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Knowledge is not something you collect and have to stuff into your brain. It’s not like the artificial Christmas tree in my crawl space that I fruitlessly try to force back into its original cardboard box. You don’t have to wrap your brain in duct tape to try to keep your knowledge contained.

Rather, knowledge is a lens for seeing the world. When we learn something new, it’s not because we gained more stuff; it’s because we now have a different way of seeing. We’ve grinded our lenses so we can see the world better–hopefully more like it really is.

Knowledge doesn’t change the world, but it changes how we see it. With better lenses, we see it more clearly, we see a wider angle, and we see it more closely.

And the more you see–the better you see–the more you know.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

On Saturday afternoon my lawn didn’t look too bad. It was a little shaggy and scraggly, but it wasn’t anything too pressing. It could probably wait a few more days or even until next weekend.

And then my neighbor mowed their lawn and all of a sudden my grass looked like a jungle.

It’s funny because during the week I make all these mental plans to mow the lawn, pull weeds, and get everything looking sharp. And then the weekend actually comes, and I don’t want any part of it.

But when I actually pick myself off the couch, put my shoes on, and do it, it’s not that bad. In fact, it’s kind of fun and it doesn’t take too much time. Most of the time is spent putting it off.

And isn’t that the truth of so many things in life: usually the hardest part is just putting on your shoes.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Some things are the same over and over. The bell rings the same time every day. It even rings on days you’re not here. It’s always weird when I’m working in our classroom while you’re at home playing Xbox and the bell rings.

But some things are new. Yesterday after our exciting tornado warning (talk about something new!) I saw the lowest rainbow I’ve ever seen in my life. Instead of looking like an arch, it looked more like a dome.

The internet says it has something to do with the elevation of the sun and the shape of the raindrops. But I’m not totally sure.

But I am sure of one thing: the world is full of new things. But we have to learn to pay attention to them. A rainbow stretched across the sky is pretty obvious, but newness hides in crooks and nannies and in places we least expect. Find them.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

I still can’t believe I dropped the birthday cupcakes yesterday. It’s a moment that will haunt me forever. When bad things have happened in my life–car wrecks, major accidents–time seemed to slow down and reality felt like a dream. And that’s exactly what it was like yesterday–cupcakes tumbling in slow motion towards the ground. 

It’s hard to create things and it’s easy to destroy them. It takes hours to bake and decorate cupcakes, and it only takes a couple of seconds to ruin them.But what’s really hard, and what takes a really long time, is trying to make things right after you’ve messed up. You apologize and try to fix things the best you can, but you can’t ever go back.

Because second chances only come in the future. So we look back long enough to learn some lessons for next time, but we keep our faces forward and our feet walking–one step at a time.

And walk carefully if you’re carrying cupcakes.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

My favorite thing about my daughters is that while we’re out on a walk or bike ride, they insist on stopping at every Lost Dog or Lost Cat poster. And they read it closely. And they deeply empathize. And they promise to do all they can to find Sparkles or Rover.

Because kids meet the world heartfirst. Adults, somewhere along the line, forget how to do that. We say it’s because we know more and have experienced more. Maybe we’ve lost a few dogs or cats of our own. Or maybe we suspect that the person who lost their pet wasn’t a very responsible pet owner and “this is what happens.”

We like to think it’s because we’re wiser. But maybe our hearts just got calloused.

My hope for my children–and for you–is that they never stop letting the world hit them first in the heart. They never let wisdom become a substitute for love.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

A shadow–a normal, everyday thing. A thing that has been following you around since you’ve been around. A thing so ever present that you probably stopped paying attention to it a long time ago.

And yet that humble shadow can help reveal deep truths about our planet, our solar system, and even the entire universe. It shows us that giant galactic bodies millions of miles away are locked in an intricate and rhythmic dance. And we’re just passengers.

But we’re passengers who have a map and schedule, and we know our destination and when we’ll arrive. And it’s all because we cast the shadows, and because we have a human mind that is primed to notice the world around us and make sense of it.

Because we’re small and insignificant, we can’t always see the whole truth. But we can see its shadows. And from that we can start to figure it out.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Yesterday I made ramen and I noticed the flavoring packet said, “Please tear along this line.” And I thought how nice it was for my ramen to ask nicely. I mean, if my foil chicken flavor pouch can use “please” and “thank you,” then surely we all can as well.

“Please” and “thank you” is important because, at least for a while, it puts us on equal footing. We each have our own unique lives. We have different numbers on our pay stubs, different cars in our driveway, and different kinds of peanut butter in our pantry.

But good manners gives us common ground. At least for a while. At least long enough to perform some simple task of humanity such as getting our lunch from the cafeteria line, paying for our groceries at the store, or getting new tags on our license plates.

So thank you for the manners reminder, ramen noodle flavor packet. I’ll try not to slurp my soup.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt