Lifelong

First day of classes yesterday at MIT, today in the BPS. Lessons ranging from the alphabet to zeta functions. Acquisitive, assimilative minds at work on both sides of the Charles. Hail, students: I who stand at the other end of life salute you, wish you good learning--and the same for myself. I think particularly of, let's say, Jamal, 6th grader, and Catherine in the 12th.

It's clear from where I stand that it's me that's beneficiary of all the effort put into my education by my teachers, my companions and myself. I am the one enriched by what I have learned. I have it in my hands and head. It's my Comstock lode, my nest egg, encompassing ever more of the world, and with me always wherever I am and whether the markets go up, down or loop-the-loop. This wealth is not just a financial asset; it's the ultimate life-enhancement asset.

It gets better for each of us when we make this wealth common, share it with others; everyone is enhanced. But when anyone walks away from an encounter with a great teacher, or stands up from an encounter with a great book, or, working with some material on a trial and error basis, comes up with a great result, the benefit accrues to that person, the learner, first of all. Wherever you go, whomever you meet, whatever you do, however you do it, your education is with you, and yours, cumulatively enriched by each new encounter.

What are the kinds of enrichment available to us? I think of three:

Masteries: what we can do (and what new capabilities we access as we master more)

Mappings: what knowledge we own (and what parts of the knowledge map we're extending and filling in)

Missions: what network of themes we find persistently interesting to follow (and what missions or quests we are more and more moved to attempt as we progressively uncover and refine our 'themata')

So you, Jamal: you can read some books with pleasure, write some kinds of prose, solve some difficult math problems, play some basketball, do some amazing things on your bike; you know some facts about history, some facts of science, some things about cultures, the names of some famous people; you've made social study projects, explored some of the physics of middle ages warfare, composed a poem which you can sing. Your teachers have introduced you to more and more things that interest you and shown how to go about learning more.You are using these lessons as the basis of your own investigation.

You, Catherine: you can read and draw interesting inferences, write cogent essays, do advanced mathematical analysis, play the flute, handle lab equipment, argue effectively; you know much about current affairs, have a basic structure of general knowledge that allows you to navigate the main periods of history, parts of the world, cultural highlights, are very clear about the details of the research of your favorite professor and are familiar with the other big names in that field; you've started pursuing a career, surprised yourself by what you're good at, initiated some projects that have made interesting things happen. Day by day, you augment yourself.

About me? Gardening, whistling, sketching, teaching English prosody; history, biography, science, especially physics and biology, philosophy, geography, music, current affairs; political activity, writing this blog, articulating the meaning of life.

This being so, at the start of the school year, take charge of charging your mind. As babies new to the planet, you learned immense amounts quickly and without formal education. That potentiality, that energy, that power, are still yours. Welcome the offers of coaching, guidance, and counsel, but remember that, at the end of the day, the benefits accrue to you. It's your mind that will be enriched; your life that will be empowered. There is such joy in this.

Master new skills, and take old ones to the next step of empowerment; map new territories of knowledge, and add to old ones, reappraising, re-appreciating all the while; pick and pursue new projects, and advance old ones already underway.

This is the good work of the 'education' in us--part the gift of teachers, part the gift of life, part the gift of our own efforts--but ultimately ours to enjoy lifelong. I can report this is true for me. Welcome to well-being.