We should build, not destroy ...

This past fall there was devastating flooding in some areas of our state of Washington. One of our members who lives in a rural area described the impact of the flooding on his community and then shared about how he and his neighbors didn’t wait for the government, they just got together and helped each other. Since I come from a rural area, I agreed that it is a good thing for people to help one another. Later, it hit me what he said about not waiting for the government. The government is not some outside group, it is us. The neighbors joining together for the common good is the government. What we usually point to as the government is really elected community representatives who hire specialists to do the things we don’t know how to do (purify water) or don’t have the time to do (pave roads) using shared resources (taxes).

I often hear a similar statement regarding WEA, our union. The WEA is not them, it is us. It is easy to be cynical and throw stones — talk radio thrives on negativity — but as educators we should be building, not destroying. As I moved from position to position in the organization, from building to local, to state to national, I found open doors and welcome embraces. I believe it was because I was willing to work to build something better.

So when you hear someone bashing educators, public schools or government, ask yourself before you join in: is this building something good, or just destroying? I am on the side of the builders. How about you?

Pondering the obvious -- or, better yet, the not-so-obvious

I just noticed it has been two weeks since my last entry. If you are into keeping score, I try to write something every week and a half, so I am late. I was genuinely shocked because I knew only a week had passed, but when I checked the dates, it was really two. I couldn’t believe how fast the time flew, which started me thinking back on how fast the school year would fly by, and how time always seems to move quickly when we are busy. Then I made the mistake of wondering why.

Why is a difficult question to answer when you are talking about a person. Why did I leave engineering to become a teacher? I have a good answer that I give when asked, that I wanted to do something more important than engineering. I can provide more details, but I have never found the words to accurately describe the emotions I feel when I think about why I became an educator.

It happened again when I was asked why I was running for vice president. I never could come up with the words that would clearly communicate the emotions I felt. I tried, and had an answer to give, but deep down, I know I was not successful. Put another way, why do you love your spouse, partner, or child? You can try to describe the feelings that rise up when you think of them, but words alone just can’t do the job. You can try, but you will be frustrated. Sometimes, you just have to accept things the way they are.

Other times, thinking about why can open new opportunities. Why do you teach a topic the way you do? Why do you drive a particular route to work each day? Honestly answering these types of why questions will lead you to challenge underlying assumptions and may open doors to improve your life. Is it guaranteed? Of course not. But nothing in this world stays the same. You either work to improve things, or they slide into decay.

So, is today the best day of your life, or not? What are you going to do about it? What is important to you? And don’t forget to ask why. You may not have an answer, but you learn a lot more from the questions you can’t answer.