Tamales

It's Thanksgiving.

I've been practicing gratitude intentionally for the past week.  Some of it has been on social media as a type of outward exercise, but much of it has been privately.  Because sometimes something rotten happens, and it takes a few hours away from that event to feel remotely grateful for anything.  After a few hours, I can honestly and with a glad heart make a more public declaration.  Those are the easy, social media posts.  What has been difficult is the in-the-moment, child-is-being-stubborn or computer-isn't-cooperating or oh-my-lord-I'm-incredibly-overwhelmed-and-I-don't-get-paid-enough-for-this-stress... those moments.

But then I'm touched by other things.  A friend sends a care package in the mail (yes-- there were tears when I opened it).  A sick toddler who has just been a punk suddenly wants to cuddle and I know these moments will be rarer as he grows, so I take that moment and don't do work (work will still be there, babies grow).  An exhausted spouse sits next to me after the kids go to bed without a computer, and we are able to put away distractions to focus on connecting (it's amazing how we let devices get in the way of communicating sometimes).

Or... tamales.  I have a student who asked to meet with me tomorrow (day after Thanksgiving) to give me fresh tamales her and her family were making.  I made tamales once.  It was time consuming and a lot of work.  Making tamales and then sharing them with your professor?  That's thoughtfulness.  She told me her mother said not to wait to give them to me until Monday because they are always BEST fresh.  Making tamales and then sharing them with your daughter's professor AND demanding your daughter share them while they are still fresh?  The incredible thoughtfulness from this unknown woman is humbling.  I'll write a thank you card, but that doesn't do enough...

I suppose that her response to sharing tamales is a lot like my response to sharing music.  Let's give the best we can, but more importantly, let's be the most authentic we can.  Let's be human.  Let's be vulnerable.  Let's not sing this music as if it's old to us, but rather commit 110% to feeling it anew every time.  That's a tough task.  It's an exhausting (and rewarding) task.

And this is education.  Education is about humans.  Education is music.  Education is tamales.