Everyone Is Invited
I propose a festival to celebrate the fecundity of ignorance. It is to ignorance that a teacher will come. Ignorance is our natural condition. A three year old child will dash headlong, careening through the hallways, delighted with the sensation of his/her play. The child is responding to curiosity of mind and body– learning the capability of a young body, strong legs, comes without effort, and much laughter. Ignorance is our natural state–an undying opportunity for exploration, engagement of mind, body, and better still, with the infinite elements of the world.
So, I propose a festival, a day set aside especially for adults to play with children, a time to practice noticing things as children notice them. I for one, am out of practice. What if I did nothing but lay in the grass and watch clouds for a while. On a rainy, overcast day I could just walk down to the creek to see what I can find. I am certain there would be something that delights, that comes as a surprise.
I was given a book of poems by Wislawa Szymborska as a birthday gift by a good friend. Several lines from a poem entitled Here, hooked my imagination.
Ignorance works overtime here,
something is always being counted, compared, measured,
from which roots and conclusions are then drawn.I know, I know what you’re thinking.
Nothing here can last,
since from and to time immemorial the elements hold sway.
But see, even the elements grow weary
and sometime take extended breaks
before starting up again.And I know what you’re thinking next.
Wars, wars, wars.
But then there are pauses in them too.
Attention!—people are evil.
At ease—people are good.
At attention wastelands are created.
At ease houses are constructed in the sweat of brows,
and quickly inhabited.Life on earth is quite a bargain.
Dreams for one, don’t charge admission.
Illusions are costly only when lost.
The body has it’s own installment plan.
Those last four lines knock me out!
