Smiles and Digression, Blog # 3

An ‘aha’ moment I’ve experienced lately is about smiles. Smiles. They’re what I love most about people: men, women, and - most of all - children.

I discovered just this week that when a person smiles, s/he appears not only healthier & happier, but younger and - most importantly – full of something… Life? Spirit? God’s Spirit, maybe? I have no idea, but I do know what a smile can become - a conduit through which humans can send out love, positivity, appreciation, joy, glee, or some other message in a flash. Yep, just like that; just in a snap of the fingers or, in this case, flash of a smile. What do I love most about smiles, you ask?

What I most love in a smile is one thing - transparency, sincerity, honesty. (Yes, I realize those are three concepts, but I consider the prongs of this trident one and the same. Sort of like the blessed Trinity – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. Yes, all three might be different, but they’re so bound in unity it’s a fool’s errand to separate them. Another thing I’ve realized of late is foolish is quibbling… about anything, much less in this case delineating the differences and similarities of three seemingly alike concepts.) So, a smile can send more truth, more genuineness, and more sincerity than anything else I can imagine. Unfortunately, or conversely, a smile can just as easily be a conduit of that praiseworthy trio’s opposites: untruth, disingenuousness, and insincerity.

But, my Bloggees, I digress (which occurs often; just stick around and you’ll witness a genuine slew of digressions). In fact, a digression I will describe now makes the point perfectly of how often I began - later in life - to digress on a regular, if not minute-by-minute basis. During my last year of teaching, we were reading aloud J.D. Salinger’s classic novel of teen angst “The Catcher in the Rye” and, more specifically, when Holden cites a time in his school career that exemplified the cruelty adolescents can exact to one of their own. There was another boy in Holden’s speech class who gave the most amazing, poetic, and lovely speeches, according to Holden. He admired and treasured the other lad’s speeches BECAUSE of his digressions. Unfortunately, the male instructor of this speech & debate class established a ‘rule’ he wanted everyone (but, in truth, just this greatest transgressor of digression) to follow whilst giving a speech. From henceforth, the teacher proclaimed that if a speaker digresses, even in the least, the other students, comprising the speaker’s audience, were encouraged to yell “Digression!” Well, the rather quiet, yet fascinating speaker whom Holden admired was called to task for his digressions, which our hero thought were the most fascinating features of his speeches.

So, now that I’ve set the scene for you, go ahead and guess what my last-period, eleventh-grade American Lit class did for the final two months of the term whenever I lectured, gave instructions, or spoke in some official or unofficial manner? Yeah… you guessed it. (Good job, but I no longer give out prizes for correct answers, which I’ll likely spend a whole other blog discussing or digressing in the future.) Yes, my Juniors – especially two in the back row – would cup their mouths and announce “Digression!” whenever I, in fact, digressed from the topic or point at hand. Granted, it began as a fun game, but it became something more, at least for me. This little charade became not only a new fun ritual during our 2-3 p.m. daily convocations, but for me, it became a cautionary reminder of my propensity for digression. Yes, I do admit I allowed my kids to yell out this D-word on a regular basis but only because they were accurate each time in identifying yet another digression spoken by their silly, sometimes willy-nilly and silly, teacher. And, I realized that even Mr. Silly needed to be more accountable. After all, to whom should I be held most accountable, but my own students? We had, by that point in the school year (Mid-April), earned each other’s respect AND developed an authentic respect for learning – collectively and individually.

So, I then realized the significance of the “What We Respect & Expect” poster looming behind me on the front wall like some disapproving sergeant-at-arm or hall monitor. Folks, I learned right then that if I did not abide by this newly established standard of digression avoidance, I would not be respected or taken as seriously as I wished. But that is NOT to say we didn’t have plenty of fun and laughter in that or my other classes; the warm laughter and bonding found amidst shared hilarity was rarely a result of a digression. I learned from that experience and many others the biggest lesson of my life; and that would be that it’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth that is so genuine, and thus so funny, much funnier than any comic delivery or comic material I could muster.

TRUTH should be at the center of everything in our lives. Indeed, everything – our relationships, our work, our business with one another, our words, our deeds, and our everything. So, THAT is a lesson I learned from my end-of-the-day, precocious sixth period – that integrity is more important than telling a story that doesn’t serve the prime purpose of life – to learn.

Learning… it’s what every organism must do to continue to exist. Without learning, there can only be death.   

And, on that airy note, I bid you a full day of learning, including learning the importance of relaxation for survival in this morass of madness we call life among humanity. 

Post Script: Do not be surprised in the future if I do allow a digression or two or perhaps no more than few to creep into my blogs, curl themselves up, and have a nice catlike nap. 'Til next time, my peeps, enjoy living the truth - digressions and all.