“FOR YOUR AGE?”

Well, yesterday morning I heard that dreaded “it” again. This time I heard “it” on the back three miles of my six mile route. Power walking at about a 13 1/2 minute mile clip, a jogging VSU footballer came up on me and in the course of a short panting conversation said “it,” “You’re doing real good for your age.” I silently smiled.

“For your age?” What does that mean? It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about labels about gender, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, special needs, cultural style, “student,” “faculty,” “administrator,” or whatever. It means others around whom we live have a perspective and expectation about who we are, an image of who they expect us to be, a role they’ve written for us to play. It means, as e.e. cummings said, everyday we’re dealing with those people who are want to make us into the people they want us to be. And, those expressed assumptions, that erode authenticity, strip away individuality, can have an impact not only on how we’re treated by those others, but also on what we believe about ourselves and how we treat ourselves. Those assumptions can worm their way into our consciousness about who we think we are, what we think we’re capable of, what we deserve, what expectations we rise to, how we feel, and what we do.

“For your age?” Far more often than not, those perceptions, labels, stereotypes, expectations, and generalizations others have of us are dehumanizing, impersonal, denigrating, and discriminatory. At least, they were in my life until I was fifty. It’s was only when I challenged them, as I did when I had that epiphany in 1991, that I asserted myself. That epiphany was partly a discovery that if I could advocate for myself, I would see that the stories others have about me aren’t true. I learned that if I could muster the strength to disavow them, I would exhume the buried courage to risk getting to know myself. Trust me, to learn who you can become it’s not always easy, and certainly not without its risks. It’s scary to get to know who you are underneath the hitherto accepted expectations in which others have wrapped you. It’s like forsaking a long-time and trusted friend and embracing a stranger about whom you know nothing. It’s like leaving the safety and comfort of what you had convinced yourself was home only to find that it was not and to come to the unfamiliar surroundings of a place in your heart and soul that genuinely feels like home.

“For your age?” It was Rumi who said, “Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do.” So many of us look out or up, but rarely in. I realized, however, that I had to go on a pilgrimage to the most sacred of all places: me. I discovered that I had to stop wishing and be the wish; I had to stop praying for and start living the prayer; I had to separate my dreams from limiting generalizations, fears, stereotypes, demands, biases, and prejudices And, as I successfully stepped outside the roles others had written for me, I could discover unlimited faith in, hope for, and love of myself. I discovered that if I could rewrite the misconceiving script, I could be a better person. I also discovered that if I could stop “being against” and “be for,” I would be unbelievably empowered. And, far more important, I saw that if I could mentor myself, I could use that empowerment to help others to help themselves likewise find the courage and strength to take a similar risk.

“For your age?” Our life stories, however, are not set in the stone tablets others have chiseled for us. Those stories others have scripted out for us, which we too often accept as gospel, aren’t accurate for they exaggerate one or more areas of our lives, deflate others, and ignore or are ignorant of still others. In reality, we are always more than flattened, impersonal images, and are forever writing additional chapters to our story. The only question is according to what themes, those laid out by others or different ones laid out by us. Let me tell you something, it is amazing–amazing–what you can accomplish when you stop submissively answering and begin independently questioning; when you stop groveling and obeying, and start standing tall and erect. When you divorce yourself from the marriage to whom others tell you to be. You know what happens? You live revelation after revelation after revelation. You’re constantly entering new world after new world after never world you never dreamed existed. You’re using a vocabulary you never knew. And, in the process, the present you becomes a different self.  And, maybe, just maybe, as in my case, choices rise to and transform into a destined calling.

“For your age?” What did C.S. Lewis say? “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” Oh, how right he was. When I wake up, it seems as if the whole day is stretching in front of me like an enormous meadow filled with beautiful wild flowers. The only retiring I do is when I hit the sack each night. Each day, I do myself a “flavor.” I taste life. So many of us make the mistake of looking out and wishing, or looking up and praying, when we should be seeing in. You see, you can’t be bold if you feel old. You can’t swing if you idly sway in a hammock. You can’t rock by merely lazily rocking in a rocking chair.

“For your age?” So, while I may be getting older, I refuse to get old. My intent is to remain an “experienced teenager,” if not in body, certainly more importantly in spirit. My purpose is to live with a distinct voice, to love and to experience the miracle of life, to be open to newness, to enthusiastically greet every moment, to embrace selfless faith, hope, and love, and to be a living expression of joy. The bottom line on all this is: since my epiphany in 1991, that is how I lived and taught; that is how I now still live; and how I’m going to do my damnedest to continue to live. And, if I do have to age, I’ll do it later.

“For your age?” Give me a break!

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About Louis Schmier

LOUIS SCHMIER “Every student should have a person who wants to help him or her help himself or herself become the person he or she is capable of becoming, and I’ll be damned if I am ever going to let one human being fall through the cracks in my classes without a fight.” How about a snapshot of myself. But, what shall I tell you about me? Something personal? Something philosophical? Something pedagogical? Something scholarly? Nah, I'll dispense with that resume stuff. Since I believe everything we do starts from who we are inside, what we believe, what we perceive, and what we do is an extension of ourselves, how about if I first say some things about myself. Then, maybe, I can ease into other things. My name is Louis Schmier. The first name rhymes with phooey, the last with beer. I am a 76 year old - in body, but not in mind or spirit - born and bred New Yorker who came south in 1963. I met by angelic bride, Susie, on a reluctant blind date at Chapel Hill. We've been married now going on 51 years. We have two marvelous sons. One is a VP at Samsung in San Francisco. The other is an artist with food and is an executive chef at a restaurant in Nashville, Tn. And, they have given us three grandmunchkins upon whom we dote a bit. I power walk 7 miles every other early morning. That’s my essential meditative “Just to …” time. On the other days, I exercise with weights to keep my upper body in shape. I am an avid gardener. I love to cook on my wok. Loving to work with my hands as well as with my heart and mind, I built a three room master complex addition to the house. And, I am a “fixer-upper” who allows very few repairmen to step across the threshold. Oh, by the way, I received my A.B. from then Adelphi College, my M.A. from St. John's University, and my Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have been teaching at Valdosta State University in Georgia since 1967. Having retired reluctantly in December, 2012, I currently hold the rank of Professor of History, Emeritus. I prefer the title, “Teacher”. Twenty-five years ago, I had what I consider an “epiphany”. It changed my understanding of myself. I stopped professoring and gave up scholarly research and publication to devote all my time and energy to student. My teaching has taken on the character of a mission. It is a journey that has taken me from seeing only myself to a commitment to vision larger than myself and my self-interest. I now believe that being an educator means I am in the “people business”. I now believe that the most essential element in education is caring about people. Education without caring, without a real human connection, is as viable as a person with a brain but without a heart. So, when I am asked what I teach, I answer unhesitatingly, “I teach students”. I am now more concerned with the students’ learning than my teaching, more concerned with the students as human beings than with the subject. I am more concerned with reaching for students than reaching the height of professional reputation. I believe the heart of education is to educate the heart. The purpose of teaching is to instill in all students genuine, loving, lifelong eagerness to learn and foster a life of continual growth and development. It should encourage and assist students in developing the basic values needed for learning and living: self-discipline, self-confidence, self-worth, integrity, honesty, commitment, perseverance, responsibility, pursuit of excellence, emotional courage, creativity, imagination, humility, and compassion for others. In April, 1993, I began to share ME on the internet: my personal and professional rites of passage, my beliefs about the nature and purpose of an education, a commemoration of student learning and achievement, my successful and not so successful experiences, a proclamation of faith in students, and a celebration of teaching. These electronic sharings are called “Random Thoughts”. There are now over 1000 of them floating out there in cyberspace. The first 185, which chronicles the beginnings of my journey, have been published as collections in three volumes, RANDOM THOUGHTS: THE HUMANITY OF TEACHING, RANDOM THOUGHTS, II: TEACHING FROM THE HEART, RANDOM THOUGHTS, III: TEACHING WITH LOVE, and RANDOM THOUGHTS, IV: THE PASSION OF TEACHING. The chronicle of my continued journey is available in an Ebook on Amazon's Kindle in a volume I call FAITH, HOPE, LOVE: THE SPIRIT OF TEACHING. There a few more untitled volumes in the works..

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