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.
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.
ReplyDeleteHere's to Athena and Spiderman.
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.
ReplyDeleteLove this post. I too want what you want. Thanks for sharing, Laura.
ReplyDelete