Dear New Year/New You Teacher,
Next to "Christmas Shoes" the song, "Auld Lang Syne" is the most depressing song on the planet.
Prior to writing this blog, I didn't even know how to spell the title. Truthfully, I'm still not certain I spelled it correctly. Feel free to fact check me.
When you do, there will probably be a list of the lyrics, which I also don't know. There may even be a historical blurb about the song being written by the Scottish writer, Robert Burns, whom I also don't know.
Candidly, the only line I really know is the first one that says, "Should 'auld (old) acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?"
I'm inclined to think this is a rhetorical question, but I've never been one to let a question go unanswered (except at the end of a blog).
For inquiring minds, I'll attempt an answer. Do with it what you will.
Should old acquaintance be forgotten? I think it depends on the acquaintance.
Every New Year I buy a new purse. I don't know why. Maybe a new purse helps me feel like I finally have control over my life.
"Out with the old, in with the new," I repeat as I dump faded receipts, melted gum wrappers, bent bobby pins, and used gift cards from my old purse.
Bonded leather tucked under my arm empowers me to do things I never imagined possible- like drinking eight glasses of water per day, getting to bed by nine, remodeling the villa in France, and training for a Do-Deca-athalon.
It's not rational by any means, but somehow I have truly convinced myself that a $39 knock off Coach purse from Shoe Station is all I ever needed to get my life right.
By February- okay who am I kidding- (January 9th) I'm well aware, the new purse is just the same ol' wine in a new wine skin.
So, should this old acquaintance of delusional thinking be forgotten? Absolutely.
Let's be real with one another. A new purse won't change my life anymore than the proverbial "diet starts Monday" adage will change anyone's.
But a global pandemic might.
If we allow it to do so, the unbearable suffering of COVID- 19 might soften our tones toward our colleagues or help us see the brightest star in the sky. It might refine our patience or give us a clearer vision for every student fighting a hard battle. After all, we've fought them too.
Maybe, it will even stir in each of us a renewed reverence for the brevity of life and spur us to merely be the best players we can while we strut and fret with the hours we have left on stage.
Not that you can't do both, but in my opinion, if only swinging one is possible, a new appreciation for life is a much better investment of time than an hour on a Peloton bike.
And here's why.
When the curtain closes, nobody cares how tone the actress's arms were that carried the purse that held the melted gum wrappers.
They'll only want to know the answer to the question we should be asking ourselves daily. "How well did I play my part of helping others along the way?"
-CDB