The School of Life: Living Questions To Inspire The World We Know Is Possible

Conversations with my teenage neighbor, a barista, with history, my hubby and my own mind

What if schools were designed to hone children’s natural genius and creativity in ways that are express their soul and contribute to a wonderful world for all?

What if learning was a way of life, for the school, the homeschooled and the unschooled, so that we could all unlearn that we must be taught to limit our thinking, while keeping us from unlinking from the institutional pseudo mind?

What if Elders were returned to their valued stations as wisdom keepers, compassionate listeners, story tellers, whimsy makers, wonder-appreciators, with an important role to play in children and young people’s lives?

What if we brought back apprenticeships as valid alternative to college? And what if college or graduate level discussions happened in the woods, in cafes and in urban gardens instead of always behind a tree that was already cut down and designed place youth in wooden boxes before they ever consider whether to go casket or cremation?

What if each unique ability were valued and harnessed in ways that bless the giver and the gift in equal measure, celebrating our mutuality, our shared treasure, yet equally our full sovereign, divine and divinely love-being measure?

What if we allowed awe and innocence to guide our wonder and we allowed our curiosity to be guided by a heart connected to all of life, birthing her own possibilities in organic harmony with all that is arising from the womb of Sophia, the very heartbeat of Source-Mother-Light of G-d?

One set of my neighbors are moving. Their daughter and I bonded and had several really awesome conversations in the time they lived here. This morning my love and I had share valentine-themed beverages at a coffee shop that has been in our university city for many years. When I was reading the story of Dr. Bronners, Honor Thy Label by Gero Leson, he describes how a Palestinian man came to study in my city and went back to Palestine to begin a fair trade olive oil business that Dr. Bronners partnered with…in yet another of the many crossovers of good people of Jewish and Muslim background seeking peaceful paths of prosperity and goodwill. Another is I found out that Hazrat Inayat Khan’s first official pupil was woman with a Jewish background. Most people, apart from corrupting influences, want peace. I want peace. Do you want peace? The coffee shop where we sat sipping cherry and honey bee flavored lattes sells Make Coffee Not War T shirts. I have one. One of the baristas there has finally started his writing career with a kick in the metaphorical pants from me. He once told me that is a writer - a poet, even, who has never finished anything. I handed him a napkin and challenged him to write, “I am a poet who has never finished a poem,” as his first one line poem. He didn’t do it. But he got a typewriter. And he wrote a poem. And he kept it in his jacket for weeks, waiting to show me. But we hadn’t gone to that coffee shop until he’d given up and taken the poem out of his pocket. Last time I saw him had on a cool ring and I aked him about it. He told me he grew up Muslim and that he almost became a Sufi but then he became an atheist. But he had a vision of this symbol and he decided it felt right to make it into a ring to help him “self-guide” his way through life with some ethics. He mentioned, as we placed our order, that he still has to remember to put the poem back in his pocket.

As Hubby and I sat together at a small glossy wooden table next to a very old wall, we talked about history, about the story of the Sufi family I am reading, and about his ancestors and why the might have come to Hawaii, which is a mystery unsolved. When the moment came when it felt time to go, we did, and the timing worked out that the daughter of our neighbor was just packing up something in their bright yellow Jeep. They’ve been making multiple trips with their small Uhaul to the new home not too far away. I asked her about their final move date and she said their making their last run today and will officially lock up everything tomorrow. She told me how she is happy that her brothers will have their own rooms and she will be right next to a nature preserve. There is a lake there. I thanked her. for the great talks and told her my step is always here and she is welcome to come by anytime. She asked if she could give me a hug. Through the car window, she gave me a great one. I told her, “I have one parting gift for you. Something you won’t learn in school. “The Doctrine of Christian Discovery.”

We’ve already covered so many topics: how racism is real, but not the virtue signaling, politically correct version of it'; how science is corrupt; how the world has been played by the elite…and how the beautiful energies are rising and in this great time of change, we can all make a difference to create a beautiful world from the ashes of all that is burning down. We’ve talked about being true to yourself instead of conforming to society - whether its expectations around whether or not to have kids or whether you even have to settle down to have kids, or how much money you need to be happy, healthy and on your purpose. Her parents are people who put out their “In this house we believe” sign of all the liberal virtue signaling phrases that, unpacked, amount to an agreement to vote for a democrat, rather than a commitment to real change, in most cases. As an aside, I am neither a liberal nor a conservative. I am a human being. As I told

Tobin Owl

today, in slightly other words, What if we could agree to live in peace and stop oppressing each other? And people could have different opinions on various topics and it would be just fine. The work of undoing Colonialism isn’t going to happen by wishing it away or instructing people on what words to say or not to say, but on a willingness to grapple with its very foundations meaningfully. In the book about the Sufi family, “We Rubies Four” by Claire Harper, there is a picture of an honor given to Vilayat and Claire, by the British King and Queen on behalf of their sister Noor, who gave her life fighting the Nazis. Before Noor was a war hero, she was a poet who loved music, and believed in fairies. She also loved a Jewish man, who actually changed his name to an Islamic one to try, unsuccessfully to win her family’s approval. On the award, it expresses appreciation on behalf of the EMPIRE. Not England. The EMPIRE.

Why did I not learn about The Doctrine of Christian Discovery - either its origins in Papal Bulls or the way it became a legal doctrine, yet still based on the religious one - in school?

Why don’t I remember learning anything interesting or relevant or meaningful at all in most of my classes? Why did the teachers assume a pre-ordained correct answer for questions that Phds argue about? Why do those who message us about various things that get fact checked assume there is a fact to check, when in fact, intelligent people have disagreed about most topics in science ever since there was science, and most of what we assume is fact, will be overturned within 50 years, if history is any indicator?

What if school taught kids how to return themselves to their breath and to their sense of interconnectedness with nature and with the joy of living, instead of teaching them to sit unnaturally long absorbing irrelevant content or propaganda?

What if school were about helping children and young people nurture a vigorous love of life and curiosity and the discovery who how they might use their innate passions, proclivities and sense of purpose to contribute to the flourishing of life in a way that is fulfilling for them and adds to the beauty of life, meets a practical need or solves some problem or - brings us closer to solving it or finding a way around it?

Years ago I learned something interesting a dinner, before I stopped going to events and became a bit of a hermit: Black children who homeschool have no education gap compared to white children.

Isn’t that interesting?

What else is interesting is that the same people who say they want liberty are often unwilling to look at the ways Institutional White Supremacy goes all the way back to times in history that have literally been white washed - the times of Colonialization, which were preceded by the theologies of Augustine and Aquinas, inquisition, the crusades, which lay the foundation for the Papal Bulls which made the Pope the false god of the world - a god of conquest instead of one of grace, peace, forgiveness and loving ones neighbor as oneself. They go blank or gaslight if you try to gently explain that racism is still happening now, that the attempt at the erasure, removal and land theft of the indigenous people is still happening now. You can have Israel committing genocide, and still have antisemitism toward Jewish people - in fact elites who want to create more anti-semitism couldn’t think of a better way to do it if they tried. I’ve supported Palestinian rights long before it was en vogue - I used to get silence for my stance back when I was on facebook. Yet now, I am automatically treated to antisemitism in circles that are anti-Israeli, as though I am somehow responsible or complicit by having Jewish blood on one side run through my veins. On the other side, Zionists consider me “not a Jew” and gaslight me from the opposite track. Today I had a similar experience when I brought up The Doctrine of Christian Discovery in notes. Yet interestingly, when it comes to Indigenous Land Rights beyond being PC about Thanksgiving, both liberals and conservatives get really uncomfortable. I know it’s Black History month, but I’ve always felt weird about celebrating it because its the shortest month of the year, dammit. How insulting is that - an in your face way to tell people of color its just. for virtue signaling. You can also create racism against white people and still keep racism against black people and other people of color. When my husband was applying to med school he was told by his doctor at a check up it was impossible to accepted if you were a white man unless you knew someone. They also told him it was a bit late since he was a non-traditional student. My husband is multi-ethnic - his mother is white, including part Armenian - another group that survived a genocide - and and his dad is a mix of Japanese, Korean & Italian. They used to think the Italian was Spanish, until someone did a DNA test. Heritage aside, he got into medical school, and thanks to being older than his classmates, made it through with a lot more wholeness as a human being compared to those who were tracked from age four or at least from high school or early college. With gender, you can discriminate against white men and still have sexism against women. With sexuality, you can have a trans agenda that is ugly and you can actual discrimination of people who genuinely don’t fit gender norms of a binary nature, including some pretty cruel dehumanization. Those who deal in division love to keep us wounded and add more wounds. Unvictimizing ourselves when we are the target of anger transferance or some form of discrimination isn’t about ignoring such things; its about refusing them by looking in the face of the darkness that is really going on and choosing a love undivided as the only way forward. A love undivided isn’t going to always comfortable or nice. But it will try its utmost to be kind.

There is much for all of us to unlearn.

What are you curious about?

What are you de-learning?

How is your self-care if you are choosing to show up in ways can lead to challenging reactions from others?

I took this picture on my nature walk yesterday. It was wonderful to be outdoors, amongst trees, birds, sun, sky, earth and water.