That which remains
For me, this paragraph from Sage Wagner, a student of Frank Chimero, illustrates the importance of experience over curriculum. As a sixth and seventh grade teacher, I hope that my students come away from this school year with memories of their thoughts that are just as vivid and beautiful as this one.
The version of Beowulf that I read in seventh grade described the hero as having honey in his veins. His greatest virtue was how, when he received his subjects in his great beerhall, he would listen to them—really listen. His eyes and ears wouldn’t leave the speaker for any distraction and they would feel the bees and sweetness and yellow sunshine bore into their soul, and they would glow with the warm, sublime knowledge that they were truly being heard. That description has always stuck with me, while the rest of the story is hazy (they wrestled in a mucky pit and someone lost an arm? Mother was pissed?) and I know the reason is stayed with me was because I wished I could be as great as Beowulf in that way. If listening with honey can make a Scandinavian warrior great, imagine what it can do for a tiny little designer like me.
Wow. I need to work on that—being able to listen in such a way that the people around me begin to glow with warmth as if they feel bees and sweetness and yellow sunshine boring into their soul.
