"Books are old-fashioned," my eight-year-old grandson told me this morning.
That hurt my heart.
Remember #Ray Bradbury's book #Fahrenheit 451, where the fireman burned books, and how the people memorized one book to keep it alive.
Michael Burnett told a similar story at the #National Achiever's Congress in Portland, Oregon.
When #Nelson Mandela was in prison," he said, the prisoners had to do hard labor, and that was to break up sandstone rocks. Sunlight on sandstone creates quite a glare, and it is hard on the eyes. Mandela asked the guard if they could have sunglasses to shield their eyes.
You know the answer. "No."
Later on, when they had nothing to do in their cell, Mandela asked the guard if they could have books to read.
"You aren't here to have sunglasses and books," he said. The answer was, "No."
So the prisoners devised a plan. They would have a one-on-one, each sharing what they knew with one other, and thus when each prisoner was, at last, released from prison, each was smarter than when they entered it.
We are all living books filled with experiences, insights, and garnered wisdom. If we shared it, just think where we would be. I guess that's what the Internet is, but I still want books.
We have this extraordinary ability to create beauty, love, and learn. But, come to think of it, animals do too. However, with our two-million-year-old brains—evolutionarily speaking—we are, instead, on the watch for danger.
There are fears all around us, internal and external. We hang back, afraid to go for our dreams, afraid to go into uncharted territory, afraid to speak up, and fearful of our shadows. We often think we aren't good enough, loved enough, or intelligent enough.
You know better than that.
If you agree, laugh out loud. If not, keep quiet.
High five,
Joyce
P.S.
"Someday, in the distant future, our grand-children's grand-children will develop a new equivalent of our classrooms. They will spend many hours in front of boxes with fires glowing within. May they have the wisdom to know the difference between light and knowledge." PLATO'S DOCTRINE, 909 Relics of Greek Philosophy.
