There are a great many teachers who have made a positive impact on my life and I know at least a couple of them will be featured on my blog at some point. I have decided to start with one who I recently had coffee with: Mr. Ryerson
In high school I was heavily involved in the school newspaper, which was originally a club. My participation in this club was my first introduction into many things including: pagemaker, staying really late after school, and a different kind of teacher. Little did I know when I walked into room 124 of my high school that afternoon to see what the “journalism club” was all about that I would be meeting a teacher who would be a great influence on my life.
Mr. Ryerson taught English and was the moderator of the journalism club. He was not (and is not) your typically teacher. With his laid back personality and good sense of humor, he was easily likable and approachable. Mr. Ryerson takes an interest in the lives of his students and while it is his job to impart wisdom on his pupils, he does more than teach from a book. He tells stories of his hippie days and shares Buddhist ideologies. He understands tradition but is always looking for a way to improve it or tweak it just the slightest bit so that it does not become too old or out of date.
During my 4 years of high school I spent many, many hours with Mr. Ryerson discussing layouts, articles, deadlines, photography, software, budgets and the like. But we also spent times discussing politics, religion, art, history and probably a million other subjects. Mr. Ryerson like to talk, but he also likes to listen.
Although he would sometimes be rattled with too much to do (especially when there were looming printing deadlines) there was something about him that was always grounded. He seemed to prepare for the future without worrying about it so much. I never really understood this until about 2 weeks ago when I met with him for coffee.
I met up with an old journalism buddy of mine and the two of us met Mr. Ryerson for coffee. We sat in Peet’s Coffee shop for awhile and after catching up with the day to day stuff our conversation drifted to more serious subjects including economic reform, gay marriage, and the catholic church teachings. Among all this serious talk, Mr. Ryerson mentioned having gone to meditation sessions where he learned a very important lesson: live in the flow.
He elaborated that while of course it is often important to make some preparation for the future, it is even more important to live in the here and now. If we keep saying “everything with get better when …” or “as soon as I meet someone life will change” or “I wish such-and-such day would come” then we are missing out on what we have right now, right this very minute. We need to enjoy what we have when we have it because we will certainly miss it when it is gone.
Personally, I spent way too much time in law school living in the future, thinking “when this class is done it will all be better” or “I just need to make it through finals” or “I can’t wait until graduation.” Now I am really, really wishing I had not said those things, and had realized how wonderful my life was right that very second instead of thinking about what my life would be like when …
So here I am, more than 8 years out of high school and I am taught another wonderful lesson by one of my favorite teachers. Live in the flow. Do not try to stop time and do not try to hurry it up. Enjoy the time you have right now.
It takes gumption to live in the flow!
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