Thursday, September 13, 2012

I Want...


I want someone to put the world back together.  The sky seems to be crumbling, and as I sift through the dust, I want to squeeze my eyes and imagine I’m just Chicken Little.   I want a man painted with red and blue spandex to scale my house.  I want Wonder Woman to arrive and demand that everyone instantly starts embracing love, peace and sexual equality.  And then, once the super heroes arrive, I want Athena to suddenly appear and conveniently usher in wisdom.

I want the paranoia to dissolve. I want teaching to crawl from its anvil of checklists and prescription, and once again reassume its spot as an art.   I want us to see kids as human beings and not data, and teachers as shapers not disseminators and interveners.  I want kids to play outside again, and I want imaginations to soar.  I want us to remember what its like to dream.  I want us to be good.  I want us to think.  I want us to read.  I want us to color outside the lines. 

And I want us to trust.

I want people to listen to Walt Whitman and be curious not judgmental.  I want our voices to matter.  I want bitterness and revenge to melt away.  I want us to work together.  I want us to accept, to challenge, to refocus on what matters.  I want us to strip away the hypocrisy, the jealousy, and the greed.  I want us to reach out our hands, help each other up, pat one another on the back, and say, “you can do it; you matter,” because everyone matters.

I want to wake up feeling lighter.  I want to rise like the flag.  I want to reach for the moon.  I want unity.  I want love.  I want people to stop killing—with words and guns and bombs.  I want decency and civility. I want people to be generous and authentic and kind.

And until all of that arrives, I suppose I’ll have to be happy that Athena lives in my books, and my family and friends still make me smile.

3 comments:

  1. I want more people to want what you want. But mostly I want to start reading your blogs again :) I hope all is well with you.

    Here's to Athena and Spiderman.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Andrea, but I prefer the Batman. Unlike the other super heroes, he had no super power. He was just a human being who saw a messed-up world and resolved to do something about it. We, like him, must embrace our fear to rise above it. We need the masses to use systems thinking to see the forest for the trees. While a fan of Fahrenheit 451, I don't want our world to come to its bitter end in order for us to reverse its direction.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this post. I too want what you want. Thanks for sharing, Laura.

    ReplyDelete