letters to my class

Dear Humans,

We can be lazy, selfish, and unthinking when left to our own devices. I’d eat cookies for supper every night if I could. I’d drive way too fast if it was allowed. And I’d leave my garbage can out on the curb all the time if the HOA didn’t send me nasty letters about it.

We set up constraints and rules to help guide our behavior. We can’t do it alone; we help one another be good people because we need good people to create the kind of communities we want to live in.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Time-Bound Humans,

One of my many pet peeves is when people say they didn’t do something because they “didn’t have time.” The universe grants us each the same number of hours in a day. How we spend them is up to us.

Wouldn’t it be better if we told the truth–“That wasn’t a priority” or “I just really didn’t want to” or “I was watching Kevin Love outlet pass highlights on YouTube.” We might lose some friends, but at least we’d be honest.

Besides, how we spend our precious time shows up in the people we become. It’s best that we own it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Helpers,

Last night after swimming lessons, my older daughter had a lot of trouble putting her socks back on her wet, wrinkled feet. So I helped her, rolling her socks down to the toes and slowly sliding the sock up over her heel.

“How’d you get so good at that?” she asked. I just shrugged and laughed.

I’m not “good” at putting socks on wet feet, and I think she could have gotten those socks on her feet by herself. But putting socks on wet feet is miserable. And when you’re miserable, it’s nice to have someone help you along.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

Driving isn’t that hard. Lots of people do it. And the car does most of the work. And yet, last year in the United States over 100 people died every day in car wrecks. That’s because driving requires focus and attention, and we are so easily distracted.

In life, if you keep your head on a swivel and pay attention, you’ll be about 99% of the way to success. It doesn’t require undue intelligence or effort or creativity. Just keep your eyes open and be aware.

Attention and focus are superpowers. Use them.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I hope we teach you enough to make you skeptical. Skeptical means you examine something from every angle before you believe it. Because it’s a mess out there: grifters want to sell you what you don’t need; liars want to convince you of what isn’t true; and scare-mongers want you to fear any new thing you don’t understand.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If something lines up with what you want to believe, you should probably look at it again.

Our future depends on your ability to be skeptical, to be smart, to be wise.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Learners,

You know when you learn a new word and then it seems like you see it all the time? Well, you’re probably seeing it just as often as you used to, but now you know enough to pay attention to it.

The world is vast and our attention is a weak, wan flashlight beam. We can only illuminate a sliver of the world at any one time. But knowledge helps.

Learning new things isn’t just about putting more stuff inside of our brain; learning is about making our flashlight beam brighter and wider. Then, more of the world is visible, knowable, and lit up.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Tinkerers,

It’s easy to look around the world and see its limitations. When I was growing up, I thought the future would be much more futuristic. I thought I’d be able to fly around in my own personal jetpack by now.

But if you think about it, human technological progress has been incredible. If Wilbur and Orville could see a space shuttle or a jumbo jet, I think they’d be amazed.

I believe that any problem can be solved. I believe that anything is possible. The solutions might not be what we imagined, but they still make the thing possible.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Driving with my headlights on helps me see. But between streetlights, lights from buildings, and other people’s headlights, I could see well enough without them. The real benefit of headlights is that they let other drivers see me.

Rules are the same way. If we follow the rules, we will probably stay safe. But the rules exist for the protection of other people–people we might never see or know, but who benefit from our actions.

So don’t follow the rules because you want to stay out of trouble. And don’t follow the rules because you want to be a good person. Follow the rules because you know you’re making life better for someone, somewhere.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Sometimes I don’t take out the garbage as soon as I should, and I tell my wife that I forgot. But I’ve never once in my entire life forgotten to take out the garbage. Garbage stinks. And garbage piles up. And garbage sits there in the corner and stares at you with its banana peel and coffee grounds eyes. It’s impossible to forget to take out the garbage.

The truth is I was lazy. The truth is I was doing something else. The truth is I got distracted by playing my guitar and, when I came back, the garbage had somehow grown and festered and stunk up the entire house. So I say I forgot. But what I mean is that I didn’t do it when I should have.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

You can learn a lot from just looking around you if you know what to look for. We sometimes feel like we’re lacking, and we look for that “thing” to complete us. So we put the Amazon shopping app on our phones; so we’re quick to search out the “right” answer on Google; so we constantly glance at screens to capture our attention.

But I think what’s inside of us and around us is enough. The world around us is bountiful–full of life and wonder–if we only take the time to look. The world inside us is deep–full or memories and insight–if we only make ourselves explore it. And they are both freely available–no downloads, no logins, and no ads required.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck