A writer's Random ramblings
Each year, the passage of time fades us from February into March. At this time of the year, humanity needs to pause to think about women. After all, without women, the human race could not survive biologically or otherwise. We take the time during March to remember women of the past, celebrate current women, and look forward to those yet to come.
Why should we pause to recall the women of the past? They have much to teach us. These ladies stand as examples of good citizenship and great acts of humanity. We learn by including them that all people, regardless of their walk of life, can achieve great things and contribute to a better society. Young folks can find inspiration for their lives. Anyone can follow the footsteps of the women featured, maybe finding a new hobby or career in the process. We celebrate the women currently living to show how women matter. Women in all fields deserve attention. We thank the women who have had positive influences on us. We open our minds to preserving the lessons of the past for the generations of the future. We discuss and study how to keep the past’s lessons relevant as time marches forward. We apply these ideals to our lives, enriching humanity in the process. We take moments during the month to look ahead. Celebrate the month with a young person by teaching her or him what you have learned. This may help humanity create more historians for the future. Introduce the youngster to influential women in your own area who are open to having visitors. Teach the next generation how to ask questions that get them learning and how to write down what they find out. Record the conversations for future reference. Make sure the young can record information and their thoughts on what they find in both written and oral sources. Teach them to analyze what they learn and apply it responsibly to their own lives. Having such communication skills will serve the future leaders well no matter what career paths they pursue. In these ways, we preserve the history corresponding to the sometimes forgotten part of our human race. We can then use it to find examples of citizenship for our generation and those to come. We can properly thank those who have blazed the trails for newer generations. We can hail current and past women as models for those yet to come and point the future toward the good examples. When current people point those of the future toward the good of the past, all of society can benefit through having more to follow to create a better future rather than the ills of others in their own age. Then, we and those after us can help envision and make the better society for later.
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All too often, we turn on the news and hear of another attack. So many school shootings and violent incidents in schools, churches, and other “safe” places wear us out. What do we do about this? Many propose new regulations on guns, but what about the ones already out there? Many of the weapons in the incidents were at one time stolen from rightful owners. Others became the owner’s property legally, then the owner’s personality changed. We can’t regulate that, so what do we do?
Lessons on personal and societal safety fit right into several curricular areas. This makes the subject handy to add into existing courses of study. Social studies, science, creative writing, and physical education/health courses offer natural openings for units on safety. Different aspects of how to handle the situations one can find oneself in fit at various levels of instruction from kindergarten to graduation. Basic lessons in all the curricular areas fit well into elementary schools. To avoid scaring our youngest citizens, talk through what happens using a news story as the starting point. This provides much-needed context. Social studies can come as simply as discussing what makes people different and how we can learn to handle the differences. Simple psychology tied into current curricula on how people interact in a society and their roles therein provides a good foundation for citizenship lessons. Languages and arts courses teach ways of identifying and discussing emotions and their outcomes. In physical education, children could learn the most effective postures for shelter in place and ways of exiting a situation or defending themselves from an attacker. Simple martial arts movements with the theory of when and how to apply them and some basic yoga or other calming techniques to use before one explodes also would help make better citizens. Science can explain anything from how the other techniques diffuse a situation to how the weapons work, depending upon the grade level and maturity of the students learning it. At the secondary level, both psychology and sociology would help pupils understand history as well as current events. They would learn how individual and group thought processes work and why certain people lead productive revolutions socially and culturally. This would give greater depth to the study of history, arts and literature and why things happened in the sequences they did. Physical education could apply better to disciplines useful throughout life by giving self-defense training and dance related movement as a calming influence. Martial arts and movement arts as well as walking, jogging, and running can be practiced alone or in smaller groups than many sports covered by modern gym classes. This makes these apply to more people since many don’t stick with large teams of people after graduation, so solo activities make more sense. Science and health classes could cover how the motions are made and why certain combinations of motions are more effective than others at minimizing attacks. In these ways, education can become more useful than theoretical. More students would likely remain interested, especially at the levels before they need to consider future careers. They would learn the foundations of good citizenship and how to apply those ideas to life. It’s worth a try to see how creating better citizens from the ground up in these ways could possibly prevent the violence all too common in today’s world. Do people think about treating the arts and their practitioners humanely? Anyone who likes having beauty to behold in writing and any of the visual or performing arts needs to think about how to do this.
Do you have someone who “has everything” on your gift list? Does that one friend or family member consistently stump your gifting wisdom? What do you with or for such people in the quest for something they will appreciate? Gifts of experience often fill the bill for these folks.
Food and drink aficionados would love baskets of their favorite shelf stable ingredients or beverages. Beer lovers give the gift giver an easy out. Many brands sell sampler cases. These allow one to try 4 different flavors in the box, generally 3 bottles of each type for reasonable prices. Wine for the enthusiast need not drain a budget either. Many stores offer several varieties either within one brand or across several brands for affordable price points. Place 3-5 bottles of either a given brand, varietal, or any combination thereof in a basket or pretty box. Whiskey and cordials people can be gifted with a smaller box of miniatures in groups of flavors for one to try. In any of the above cases, also consider adding some glassware for enjoying the beverage, if money allows. For those who don’t drink, try gifts of coffee, tea, hot cocoa, chocolates, or other foods someone enjoys. Those with new living spaces would appreciate tea towels, kitchen gadgets, and other small decorative items in a handy box or basket for storing them until use. Those who love art and/or history would enjoy the tours some towns put on or a trip to a museum. In late 2017, my own family wondered what to give me. I let them know every time we saw the ad on television that I had been waiting several years for everyone’s schedule to synch up and allow us to take the Historic Houses of Worship Tour. Even the children enjoyed visiting churches of different denominations and our local living history museum more than I had thought. After all, I wanted to not only see, but photograph, the artistic wonders of the churches. Everyone packed their patience and joined in the explorations. We talked with parishioners or docents at many stops, learning even more. Keep an eye out for these or nature walks throughout the year, as many places offer them free of charge. Local newspapers and radio or television stations often mention them, so keeping up with the news when travelling will offer these events also. In these ways, one can offer a holiday, birthday, or token of appreciation gift to anyone on his or her list. The gifts need not be expensive to allow celebrations. Many times, knowing one or two items or categories a given friend or relative enjoys fills the bill. |
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