Never Too Old To Learn

The Once and Future King, Merlyn speaks in his role as mentor to Arthur, a leader in the making, and offers him a cure for his sadness and pain.

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn. . . "is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins,. . . you may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then--to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you."

Parker Palmer, adds his gem to Merlyn's wisdom: "If we who lead and we who teach would take that counsel to heart, everyone in education, administrators and teachers and students alike, would have a chance at healing and new life. Learning--learning together--is the thing for all of us."

Ok... after I went back to work I lost blog post focus somewhat... let me see if I can recapture my original intent

I listened to 35 year old, inner city African-American judge, who had been raised in foster care, share with a group of lawyers, policy makers, educators and others, that his foster dad told him education was the only thing that could never be taken away from you. He would watch foster brothers and sisters come and go, and often worried himself about being taken away from the foster dad he loved so much. People and possessions can not necessarily be permanent fixtures, he said. But, an education is something all your own. No one can ever take that away.

Learning is something that drew me to SL. Hard to believe it wasn't shopping or clubbing, I know :) I have been so fortunate to have many SL teachers cross my path. Not "teachers" with credentials, but friendly, patient avis who were willing to show me step by step how to do something. SL offers endless opportunity to be creative - through building, designing, scripting - even mixing and matching an endless inventory of clothes - LOL! It also offers endless opportunity to reach out and teach someone else. Never assume you are too old or have too much experience to learn something - and never assume you don't hold knowledge valuable enough to share. SL also offers endless opportunities to learn about ourselves. Opening up your heart is also a learning experience. Don't miss out on the array SL puts before us. Be the first to say hello, be willing to offer friendship, be willing to share without regret.