“Have an amazing some day”
~ ‘smart-phone’ auto correct
I will admit, I was enthralled with the above text-message wish from a dear friend. What a playful (and cosmic) aspiration! Me ‘n my Mind went into a multitude of directions ~ all of them quite fascinatingly wonderful. I asked myself “what would an amazing some day look like?”
This is stuff of Vision Boards, daydreams; VR goggles and declarations. Free and unfettered; nary a negative or limiting thought, or mental picture, in sight. Woohoo!
I also realized that I use to do “old school pinterest” ~ ie: paper and photos, etc. ~ yet had not done so in quite a long while. Ooops! That’s on me!! Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed where my thoughts took me for ‘an amazing some day.’
I reminded-myself of an end-of-semester assignment I would give students. At the time, I was an adjunct Associate Professor at the local community college – Vol State – teaching Sociology. Needless to say, I was a tad bit unconventional in my manner of instructing ~ and I had a blast. (From fourteen semesters of feedback ~ the vast majority of the students did too.)
The entire course-focus was about viewing the world from different perspectives than the ones inherit in their local society. It was NOT demeaning their local society ~ simply expanding the focus about ‘other’ local societies. No right-wrong, good-bad. Objective thinking in the context of what was being studied. (Textbooks were used for language and concepts … and vocab tests. The rest of the weekly 3-hr course was ‘hand’s on.‘)
I digress. Back to the “final exam/paper.” Each student was to write a Utopian paper. What did they envision as the perfect society ~ for them. There were no “wrong answers” as it was their view ~ not mine, or their neighbors, or any loved ones. There were certain specifics to address, as well as their ‘reasons’ for choosing what they chose – objectively. (“Just ‘cuz” didn’t cut it. Neither did misspelling ‘sociology’ Ha!)
Guidelines were topically text- and chapter-based: recreation, procreation, transportation. Housing, religious/spiritual belief structures, laws-of-the-land. Professional choices and artistic endeavors. Ecosystems and health care. The w-h-o-l-e bailiwick.
Overall this assignment was an expression of each student’s wants and dreams. Their “amazing some day.” (The only ones who ever failed their Final were ones who did not complete the assignment; or blew it off with a half-page response. Otherwise – it was a win-win.) I learned so many amazing things.
Now ~ back to my musings following the text message I had received. Today, a decade and a half down the road from teaching those college classes, what would my Utopian paper look and read like? So much has changed in my world since that time. So much of the World has changed since that time. Some things (and they usually were ‘things’) are no longer important to me. Some items are more important. And a few precious concepts are ‘writ in stone.’
Here I’m tossing the ball: What about you? What’s your Utopia? What’s your amazing some day? It behoves a Spirit and a Mind to contemplate such as this. Otherwise, how will you recognize it when your’s appears?!
PS ~ after profusely thanking the individual for the wonderful inspiring message texted, they informed me that their smart-phone’s ‘auto-correct’ obviously did not speak Southern. Ha! They had said ‘Have an amazing sunday.’ Double Ha! (Personally … I really think the smartphone was smarter than I’ve previously given ’em credit for. I think this one had an AI moment. I loved the rewrite.)