Education lasts a lifetime: When you land in a school of your choice

Two days ago, we received news of our son being accepted into a school of our choice. As you might imagine, we've thought, reflected, imagined, wondered and searched with our hearts, even our souls for a school that might touch our son's inner being, so he can grow into his truest self. We are overjoyed that our son has been  accepted into a school of our choice. It was a long road getting to this point and it is glorious being here.

As the initial euphoria settled and pumped fists unfolded into open palms, I paused. I paused to recognize that this was another moment, one more moment in our son's, nay even our, journey of education. Education is not a destination. It is not a trip you take to get from Kindergarten to twelfth grade and then to college. It is a life long journey, one that you embark upon when you are conceived and that continues on forever as your consciousness evolves and impacts the very nature of being human; an essence that lives well past any of us.

In reflecting on how our son's education in these next several years might mark his lifelong pursuits in learning and living, I opened to one of my all-time favorite passages on education. Parker Palmer, in his book The Courage to Teach shares what education is for:

Education is about healing and wholeness. It is about empowerment, liberation, transcendence, about renewing the vitality of life. It is about finding and claiming ourselves and our place in the world.

Education is meant to uncover, to beckon the soul of a human being. Such a beckoning does not happen in thirteen years or even seventeen years. It happens over a lifetime, slowly. Parker says of this:

… let us remember one thing about the human soul: it is like a wild animal. If we go crashing through the woods, screaming and yelling for the soul to come out, it will evade us all day and night. We cannot beat the bushes and yell at each other and expect this precious inwardness to emerge. But if we are willing to go into the woods and sit quietly at the base of a tree, this wild thing will, after a few hours reveal itself. Out of the corner of our eye, we might glimpse something of the wild preciousness we are all looking for.

I hope our son's education, in these early years continues into a lifetime of discovery, not just of the world around him, but of himself. Here's to a journey that started long before he was born, well before we were born and that will continue long after we are all gone.