"While life can only be understood backwards, it must be lived forwards."

(Soren Kierkegaard, Works of Love, 1847)

Kindergarten wisdom

"All of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life--learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and word every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why but we are all like that."

This is a passage from All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. When I read it, I am 25 and 6 years old at the same time. I knew all these things as a child and yet they have been given much more meaning by life experiences.

This is a wonderful world, and yet sometimes the wonder gets lost or forgotten. Then the world becomes a place that is just full--full of information, full of busyness, and full of regulations. Not only is this a wonderful world, it is my Father's world...

Dr. Seuss wannabe

I recently had to write an illustrated children's story for a Teaching Language Arts class. This is what I came up with:

"A Bath or a Shower?"

Do you take a bath or a shower?

A shower is quick, but a bath takes an hour.

Well, if you ask me, I'd rather jump in the lake;

And not worry about how much time it would take.

But which makes you cleaner, that is the question.

Well, I am here to teach you a lesson:

That no matter which you choose, you're sure to be,

Spotless and fresh and perfectly clean.

When you are little, you get a bath from your mom,

So that she can clean you and help you some.

But when you're older and a little taller,

You take a shower so you use less water.

So whatever the reason, whatever you decide;

Just be sure that you're clean and dried.

And that you don't use all the water on you,

'Cause someone else needs to clean themselves too.

Rookie Blogger

I've finally done it. After thinking about it for some time, I now have my own blog. I'm calling it My Mindstorms because it seems to me that's often how my brain operates. I am interested in English literature, Religion, Philosophy, sports, and just about everything else. My thoughts will probably range from academic ideas to everyday insights. Hopefully, most thoughts will be somewhere in between. And who knows, I may even have an epiphany or two along the way.

I am a student at Redeemer University College studying to be an elementary school teacher. I also have a part-time job as a cabinetmaker at Timberwood Custom Kitchens. I hope to talk to y'all again soon.