A Joyful Anniversary and Two Birthdays

Just a quick note to acknowledge three milestones today - one is the first birthday of Joyful Jubilant Learning, the blog dedicated to learning founded by Rosa Say .

I am honored to have made several contributions to a year’s compilation of excellent essays on the many pleasures and benefits of learning and the learning process. Rosa is our wonderful leader and mentor, and I want to express my personal thanks to her and to all of my JJL colleagues for all you have done to make my experience as a fellow contributor and teammate a great one.

The other two are birthdays - Tim and Abigail Johnson, father and daughter, both celebrate another year on the planet today. Abigail is three, and Tim won’t disclose his age as anything but “something-greater-than-three”.

In writing a post to commemorate the day, Tim said this:

“The more I think about it, the more I believe that childhood should be a lifelong state. There should always be wonder, imagination, and curiosity around every turn… even if we think we know the answers. We should continue to get skinned knees and wear them like trophies. We should check out that little forest at the end of the block because… well… you just never know…. We should revel in reading a swashbuckling adventure book under a tree on a lazy afternoon because every boy should know the finer art of swashbuckling. We should ask why… again… and again… and again. Maybe the answers the “adults” are giving are not complete enough for us to put our minds around. We should eat ice cream at our own pace, and if it drips… that’s what the dog is for.”

Lovely and inspired, isn’t it?

After reading this I looked at that scar I got on my knee when I was 14 for the first time in 20 years, and my inner child was reborn. And, of course, tonight I had ice cream.

Thanks Tim for this reminder, and Happy Birthday to you both!