A Point to the Pointless

It’s Friday! Happy quarantine, everyone. It’s officially been a week since school shut down and everything went quiet. So, what’s gone on in that time? Lots of stuff.

I’ve settled into my routine. Jeeze, it was hard at first. After so many years of working at schools, the shift to working from home wasn’t easy. After all, even when I wasn’t going in early this year, both of my roommates were, so life still had that familiar flow.

Now? Not so much.

One of my roommates still goes in early—providing low income childcare by official permission of the governor (yay fancy titles)—while the other is about as home-bound as me. I’m not sure how that’s going to work out, because…

I haven’t been home since Tuesday.

I went out to Hood River to see my dad. For those who don’t know (which, since my readership is zilch, is currently 0%) Hood River is a town about forty-five minutes east of Portland. 

The majestic beauty of the Pacific Northwest. The trees...the hills...Mt/Adams pointing from behind a hill...

And my dad's neighbor's llamas...who were strangely photo shy.

It’s definitely rural, and relatively calm. Part of me is really enjoying the change—especially the lack of cat—but more of me wants to get back. At least for now.

Things are just so up in the air right now that I’m not even sure what to think.

But I’m rambling, because I went into this article without focus, without a point in mind. I thought I’d just write about what I’d done this week, without asking myself why that would matter.

And it does matter a great deal. I’m just one voice of many—a growing percentage of the population is trapped inside. California now has a state-wide ban on travel. Oregon this morning said that it wasn’t on the table. Then again, they also said that schools would stay open on Wednesday last week, and we all saw how that played out.

At the end of the day, every quarantined person is going to need to find their own point and purpose. Yes, they might be working from home, but to what end? In an office, surrounded by people, it’s easy to feel like a part of a larger whole. Not a critical part—mind you, although people are more critical than they give themselves credit for—but an important part nonetheless.

At home, surrounded by distractions, it can be harder to put those ideas into perspective. 

It's a black background because it sucks everything in: light, matter...free time.

What’s the use of working on project A when streaming is so much more enjoyable? Why does holding the briefing matter when I can’t directly see the fruits of my labor?

The answer, as with everything in life, depends on perspective. Just because you can’t see the effects doesn’t mean they don’t happen. It just means that (if you’ll excuse a little joke from an almost-atheist) you’ll have to have faith both in others, and in your own ability to change.

What’s my purpose, then? What’s the overarching reason I’m doing anything? Why am I writing words that literally no one is going to read?

The same purpose as always—my kids. I’m planning out ways to give them things to look forward to. Maybe that’s setting up a gambling ring. Maybe that’s creating an afterschool activity. Maybe it’s opening up parts of my day where they can ring in and just talk and interact like everything’s normal.

Because it will be normal, one day. Either this new situation will continue on indefinitely and this is how we’ll live the rest of our lives, or things will return to a semblance of the way they were. They’ll never go back—we’ll always carry the scars, like the food hoarding from the depression that my grandparents still sometimes do—but we can choose to be better for this.

And that would have made an excellent ending, but there’s just one last little point I want to make.

In that vein, I made them something fun yesterday. I have no idea if it’s any good, but I had fun making it. I took a script and read it in my voices, and I’ve posted it below. If it’s not your thing, then skip it. But if it’s something that you enjoy, please give it a watch and give me some feedback. I love being able to improve.

Anyway, this has been another Adventure of the Austentatious. If you liked it, tell your friends. If you hated it, tell your enemies. If you don’t care either way, tell everyone. Peace out, stay healthy.

And happy quarantine.

Writing in a Time of Nothing Else to Do

Today in NEWS HISTORY: The border with Canada is being closed—mostly.

See, when the US stopped all flights to and from Europe (except, at the start, the UK and Ireland, because that strain wouldn’t affect Americans?) there was a huge uproar. It was unilateral for one, and very sudden. Now—equally suddenly and less than a week later—the border with Canada is, by decree of both the President and Prime Minister, closed to all but essential duties.

Trade is being counted as essential, and thank goodness for that.

This gets back to my earlier point about planning for after the Quarantine. Life will go one, but if we let it stop now then it’ll be harder to get it back up and running.

So, to keep myself busy, I’m turning to writing. I’m even getting back to this blog fairly regularly. And what’s the topic for today?

WRITING

Pictured: A good idea for someone 30 years older than me.

Specifically, how to start a piece (or opus , if you’re feeling fancy). See, I’d argue that some people have good ideas from time to time. I’d even argue that most people have them often. 

No, not that kind of good idea.

 
The issue is how or where to start.

“All stories start with characters.” I read that on a lesson plan once, and just about put that advice where it belongs: burning into a trash-heap of chemical weapons.

Yes, some stories start with character, but not all stories. How do I know this? Because that’s how I write. My characters ALways come last.

I start with plot. I know my start and my goal, and then I figure out how to get there. Problem solved, book written, time to get $1,000,000 dollars, right?

Wrong.

So, here’re my steps to writing a novel. Note: I have never published anything. My knowledge of writing is ad hoc at best—and partially contradictory at worst. If someone smarter than me with more experience says that I’m wrong, then brain them with that grain of salt because I’m right listen to what they have to say. Note 2: I’m a pantser. That means my first draft is my outline, which means I do more re-writes.

Step 1) Know thy strengths.

Good for life, so-so for Scrabble, bad for Life.

As far as I can tell, people tend to be stronger in one of three categories: plot, characters, or world. When you read a story, what are you drawn to? Do you fall in love with the character and write bad slash fiction where Frodo is saved by Iron Man? Do you delve into the lore of George RR Martin so deeply that he asks you to fact check him? Or do you like tinkering with the plot, reveling in tropes and coming up with twists and turns that no one sees coming?

Find your strength, and start there.

Step 2) Use your strength

Just because it's a strength doesn't mean it's easy.

Just start writing. Give me a character bio, or a historical description of the world. Write a journey where nothing matters because the characters are paper-thin. Get the words on the page—you can tinker with them later. It doesn’t have to be good (yet), but it should be something because…
 
Step 3) Add in another layer

Oooh, pretty...

My first drafts are basically plot outlines. I know the goal, I just need to fit the details in between. However, they’re really boring and unengaging [screw you, Microsoft, that’s a word] because (spoiler alert) none of my characters care about what’s going on.

So, my next step is to add character, right? Wrong. I suck at characters and dialogue, so instead I start adding in world details. I write those histories and the societies. Basically, why does the plot matter to the world and the civilizations in it?

For you, find out which of the remaining categories is easier and work with that. Rewrite your chapters, and this time focus on adding in those details. If you’re adding world, then describe what’s going on around the story and how the story impacts it. If you’re adding in character, then think about their motivations and what drives them to complete the story. If you’re adding in plot, then focus on the parts that impact and/or change the world and/or characters (believe me, the color coding was necessary).

So, you’ve rewritten everything and added in all those details. That means…

Step 4) Add in that last part.

There, a motivational cat poster. MOTIVATION ACTIVATE!!

By now, you should have enough context to fill in the gaps. For me, I’ve written my characters enough times that I can figure out their motivations and give them half-way decent dialogue. For adding in the world, look for gaps where the scenery enhances the action. For adding in the plot, look for the intersections of impact for characters and world (no color coding necessary). Please see previous section for details on what I mean by that.

Now that you’ve rewritten your work a third time, you get to…

Step 5) Rewrite until you’re happy

'Cause it's the icing on the cake!

I’m never happy with my work. That’s a lie—I love editing it to shreds. But eventually, the editing process has to stop. My current work is getting really close—and with this quarantine, I should have plenty of time—but it’s not there yet. Every time I rewrite it gets better, and every time it gets better it gets closer to being published.

And why do I want it so good?

Why, to be as amazing as possible for my kids.

This has been another Adventure in the Austentatious. If you like it, tell your friends. If you hated it, tell your enemies. And if you don’t care either way then tell everybody.

Happy Quarantine! (All images thanks to Creative Commons)

But Everything Changed When Thursday Attacked

Last week (03/08-03/14). My goodness, last week was a week. It’ll be the kind of thing people talk about for ages, the kind of thing that ends up in the history books.

The week we all woke up and realized that Corvid-19 was bad. Really bad.

As a history hobbiest, I have a problem with the inevitability of how it was written. Rome was always going to fall. The US was always going to win WWII. Schools were always going to close last week. But nothing is set in stone, and while some outcomes might have been more likely, there was always a chance for something to go differently.

However unlikely that is.

Like Oregon would give up our coastline.

Fair warning, this post isn’t going to be quite like the others. I can't guarantee the humor. It’ll be a firsthand account of the week everything went to heck; a primary source, if you will. This is for all of the future historians out there, the ones trying to piece together what happened The Week that Started the Quarantine. #SearchTerms Coronovirus Corvid-19 “The Quarantine” 03/12/2020

03/08/2020-The time change. It sucked, but it was the mundane kind of less-than-fun. That sudden jetlag that comes but twice a year to remind us that even the most useless of events can still keep going. Yay?

03/09/2020-Monday. I was subbing for a Library teacher. Things went well. The assumption was that school would probably stay open until Spring Break, though the closure of some universities was causing some anxiety.

03/10/2020-Tuesday. Again, everyone assumed that everything was going to stay open, but the number of subs was worrying. I myself was doing three jobs—helping in two Kindergarten classes and teaching library. Can someone say hectic?

03/11/2020-Wednesday. I was only in Kindergarten. The number of subs was down, and things were returning to normal. It was a good day overall, and it seemed like the troubles had passed. It still seemed like schools would stay open.

I’m going to pause here to just reiterate this: even on Wednesday, there was no reason to think that things would close. I’m sure people of the future reading this will think we were all idiots, but all signs were pointing to us being able to hold on for one more week—just until Spring Break. At the end of the day, this belief was fueled by misinformation from all sides—the Republican federal government (thank you, president Trump, for all the reasons) and the Democratic state government (here’s looking at you, Governor Brown). I hate when information is withheld, because inevitably it leads to both panic and a greater distrust in elected officials if/when it gets found out.

And there was so much more that we could have been doing earlier.

03/12/2020-Thursday. The morning started as normal. I was going to be up in middle school for most of the day, but checked in with our elementary school just in case. They wanted me in the office for an hour, and I was able to oblige. On the way out the senior admin assistant asked if I’d heard about the governor’s announcement. As my news sources tended more towards the national and international—I’d fallen out of the habit of watching the nightly news—I had not. However, I quickly looked it up.

Imagine those moments in movies where the camera zooms in on a person but the background stays the same—the Dolly Zoom (had a better video, but he swore at the end. @#$!). The moment that inevitably means that something has slapped into the fan. Here is what the press release said she was going to announce:

1. Large gatherings: All large gatherings over 250 people will be canceled statewide effective immediately for four weeks. A gathering is defined as any event in a space in which appropriate social distancing of a minimum of three feet cannot be maintained.

2. Schools: In addition to previous guidance issued on March 8, 2020 to keep schools open, all non-essential school-associated gatherings and group activities should be canceled — such as group parent meetings, field trips, and competitions.

3. Workplace: Recommended implementation of distancing measures including an increased physical space between employees in offices and worksites, limited in-person meetings, limited travel, and staggered work schedules where possible.

4. Long-Term Care and Assisted Living: Strict limitations announced this week by the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Human Services remain in place.

Three thoughts rushed through my head.

1)    What does this mean for the school auction this Saturday? (They moved it online)

2)    What does this mean for after school activities? (They were canceled the next day)

3)    Oh, four-letter-word-of-choice, we’re probably going to close, aren’t we? (yes, announced later)

I cannot stress how fast this flip was. When I woke up, everything was fine. Schools were still mostly open, events were happening, and life was continuing as normal. Within minutes of reading the article, the auction was canceled and the admins were having meetings. By mid-morning I got an email, with the first sentence being:

“Okay people, here’s what I know—AND WE ARE NOT SHARING THIS WITH STUDENTS OR FAMILIES YET!”

They were considering their options, and my subbing for the rest of the day was canceled. By this point the kids were figuring out that something was up—several likely already knew what was likely coming.

An hour later, it became official: school was going to close for at least a month.

The second I got home, I found my roommate. I gave her the scare of her life (a, “HI!” she wasn’t expecting), followed by:

“We need to go grocery shopping. Now.”

“Really? Are you sure-”

“Yes.”

And I’m glad we did. We were able to stock up on staples. Two days later (on a trip to the store for Pi Day goodies) the pasta aisle looked like this:

Huh, yet they still won't by Prego...

When I got to school for my afternoon lessons, the students were just learning the news and were in a panic.

“Austin,” they said, “what does this mean for the Murder Mystery Event? Is it canceled?” To which I replied (each time),

“One, I’ll go into details in class so I only have to say it once. Two, I’ll send out an email later with the same info. Three, you’ve known me for six years: am I a reacter or a planner?”

“Uh…kind of both.” (beat)

“Fair point. For this kind of thing, am I usually a reacter or a planner?”

(Without hesitation) “Planner.”

Here’s the thing. Ever since we’d heard the previous week that we might shut down (like a 2% chance, they said) I’d been planning for it. I’d emailed around for my options, ran through scenarios, etc. Because of that, while I was rushed when the time came, I still knew what I was going to do. And that distinction is important. As of writing this right now, it feels like the US’ response has largely been reactionary—fair point, since the last pandemic of this scale was the Spanish flu 102 years ago (Hey, new blog post idea!). But until we turn that corner and start really putting plans in place, we’ll always be one step behind.

But I digress.

The rest of the school day was spent focusing on the kids. See, I always remind myself that my time with the kids is potentially limited. One of us could leave at the end of the school year. Would I ever wish that I’d spent less time with them? Will I ever get a chance to get those lost minutes back? No, so I do my best to focus on enjoying the time that we have and giving them my all.

Now, back to our in flight movie—the evening was spent getting ready for…

03/13/2020-Friday (the 13^th [dun-dun-duuuhhh]). This day was a rush, kind of a culmination of the rest of the week. At the end of the day, everyone was going home. By class I was in first grade, helping monitor the kids while the teacher prepped them for the upcoming 4 WEEKS (MINIMUM) of remote learning; by lunch I was running like a mad-man, giving kids their character sheets for D&D. Once again, we only had a day to prepare.

If it sounds rushed and hectic, it was—but at least the school had a plan in place and a day to prepare. Some places only had hours—and no plan. At the end of the day, we made it. Kids got picked up, only a few things were left behind, and no one really panicked.

The second I got home, I flipped on the TV and turned to the news. This is it, I thought, time to see the long grocery lines and empty shelves; time to see scared interviews and experts going on and on and on about…

The oncoming snow. Portland got snow that weekend, and that’s all anyone on the news was going to talk about.

I guess normalcy is—sometimes—only a flurry away.

This has been another Adventure in the Austentatious. If you liked it, tell your friends; if you hated it, tell your enemies; and if you don’t care either way, then tell everybody. Peace out, happy Quarantine.

And stay healthy.

On Staying Sane, or How to Survive the Quarantine

Well, it’s truly happened. I know that most people never thought we’d see this dastardly day, that it all seemed incredibly impossible, that even a week ago it was all so unmitigatedly unthinkable.

The stores have run out of toilet paper.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

How will we survive without paper to clean ourselves with? I myself have given up my daily routine or scouring my skin with sandpaper, trying out this new thing called a, shower. It cleans you off with water, and so far it seems to be working well.

In other words, panic-problems often have simple solutions. The issue is training your mind to look for them. It’s not always easy. Everyone, many times in their lives, gives in to the group think. Whether it’s peer-pressure in school, an unwillingness to stand up to the boss when need be, or buying toilet paper in the apocalypse, everyone has their moments when its easier to just give-up and give-in.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend that for the Great Quarantine of 2020—and just think, if it’d happened a year earlier, that would have rhymed. The natural view is to see the Quarantine (and yes, I do think it deserves the capital Q) as an extended vacation. General habits will fall by the wayside, the excess free time will be eaten up by YouTube and Netflix, and a return to normal life will be seen as either an impossibility or an unwelcome distraction.

But, if you’re like me, you’re looking for ways to stop that from happening. Your goal is not just to survive the oncoming changes, but to thrive during them and plan for the future. Here are some tips on how to make that happen.

1) Set a schedule

We humans are creatures of habit--not routines, habits. There’s a wealth of research to back this up: we fall into ruts, and we like it that way. So, if you fall into the habit of watching Hulu (occasionally switching over to Disney+ in order to, “mix things up”), then your body will get used to it and rebel if there’s a change.

If you get into the habit of having no set schedule, then any schedule will feel like an imposition. If you fall into the habit of a productive schedule, then MOOLAH-MOOLAH!

As such, give yourself a schedule and stick with it. Make it specific yet meaningful, and make it a seven-day schedule. That way, when you get back to the usual week-day thing it’ll either feel like you’re giving yourself a break or still give you time to continue the routine. Here’s mine:

5:30 (When I naturally wake up)-Read the news.

6:00-Light workout

6:30-Breakfast

7:00-Shower & brush teeth

7:30-Walk

8:00-Work block 1 (writing)

11:30-Lunch

12:30-Work block 2 (prep)

3:00-Work block 3 (TBD)

6:00-Dinner

7:00-Free time

9:00-Get ready for bed.

2) Set Goals (and make sure they’re specific)

Humans like to feel as though we’re working towards something. It’s one of the reason politics works, and why social movement function. Give yourself a goal for the Quarantine: in two weeks, I will learn 200 Spanish words; in five days, I will be able to juggle three balls at once; I will edit all of my chapters in book one by April 5^th.

By giving yourself a specific, measureable goal, you are encouraging yourself to stay active and engaged in some way. Yes, you might end up feeling guilty if you don't finish, but I’d rather my brain look at that as a reason to stick to the goal than to not set one at all.

3) Stay connected

We have a thousand different ways to communicate these days. Text, video, YouTube, Twitch, flames, bodies, text burned into the skin of squirrels—take your pick. At the end of the day, the Quarantine will be isolating. Find ways to connect with others, and make it a part of your routine. Maybe you’ll all come together in a chat. Maybe you’ll have dinner virtually with friends. Use this time to talk about how you’re doing with your goal, or the hardships you’re facing, or the fact that you’re finally getting around to cleaning out the back closet (and you found Mr. Whiskers, and you didn’t know that cats could mummify in this climate). No matter how much of an introvert you are, there’s a huge difference between choosing isolation and being forced into it. Setting up these connections now—even if it’s only once a week—could be a life-saver.

4) Remember that Nothing is Forever

The Quarantine will pass—either because we get everything under control, or everyone dies. Either way, nothing is going to last forever. There will be a world after quarantine, and it will be filled with all the usual wonders and sadnesses. If you live as though that day will never come, then the shock to your system will be greater. But, if you live life like you’re preparing for the day that you’re able to return to normal, then you’ll be able to do so in a much better way.

So, there you have it: some tips to survive the Quarantine. Currently, grocery stores are still well stocked, panic is high, and who knows when we’ll come back. But I’m choosing to look for the opportunities, and I know that I’ll come out of this the better for having lived through it.

This has been another adventure of the austentatious. If you liked it, tell your friends; if you hated it, tell your enemies; and if you don’t care either way, then tell everybody. Peace out, happy Quarantine.

And stay healthy.

Looking Ahead: A Betterment in 2018!

Ah, the new year. A time of wonder. A time of mystery. A time to look back and say to myself: how did I let everything go so wrong?

Well, thankfully, there's an app for that. It is on a platform called LIFE and it is called (wait for it...drum roll...) New Year's Resolution! According to source 1 (History) and source 2 (Live Science), the origins of this tradition can be traced by 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians.

Famed for its probably imaginary hanging gardens!

These people--who, by the by, used a base-12 or duodecimal counting system--would bring in the new year around mid-March, with a festival called Akitu. Part of the festival was a reaffirmation of resolutions with the gods, to ensure that boons would continue to be paid. That these boons included the crops growing, the sun rising, and the world running, they were very important indeed. But now, using the magic of time travel...

Sorry, no TARDIS or Delorean here.

We jump to Rome. According to the above sources, the Romans had a similar tradition whereby they would confirm their continued devotion to the gods. The sources, however, are mum on how these two cultures really connect. Did the Babylonian tradition influence the Roman one through the millennia? Was this a common practice around the Mediterranean at this time? Perhaps, instead, the authors have chosen to use this discrepancy to justify that similar traditions can appear out of thin air in disparate places. History at least tries to connect the tradition between early and modern Christians, but the doesn't actually explain how the connection would work. Were resolutions a tradition across Catholic Europe? Did priests say, "I will be raided by fewer vikings this year?" Did a lord look in the mirror on January first and say, "Do you know what I need? More serfs?" History does not say so, and I doubt that the sources do either.

Yet the fact that the transition did appear--suggesting something similar surrounding certain societies--so disparate might not be the best word. Then again, what if the place does not matter? Maybe humanity just wants to better itself? I know that I do.

So, what problem do I want to fix in myself this year? Maybe I want to lose weight (12%) or be a nebulously better person without defining what that means (also 12%). Actually, I will join that number. One of my goals is to be nebulously better this year. As I refuse to define it any more than that, I will certainly follow through. However, as one of the 44-45% of Americans who made a goal this year, I want to make something a bit more quantifiable.

One trend that I have noticed repeatedly over the past year is that I will read something absolutely fascinating and be completely unable to remember it in the time that it takes to read this sentence. As much as I love knowledge for knowledge's sake, it does not help me if I cannot remember having learned it (My dinner guests, however, do not mind. I have learned over many years that the search for the boiling point of saliva does not make the best dinner conversation).

Having identified my problem, the next step is to rectify it. Several solutions seemed obvious, but each had a problem. Rereading everything ten times would help me remember, but it would be tedious and I would have less time to learn other things. Stopping my reading entirely would have freed up a lot of free time, but I would rather my brain not atrophy into mush. And no one wanted to be my learning buddy.

Eventually, though, I did come up with a solution. Every day, I would write down something that I had learned--and source it, too! Every week, I would write down a memory from the week that I wanted to keep (but unless I write them down day of, I tend to forget them). Lastly, every month I would write down a new motto for the month.

My goal with this project is three-fold. The first is to train my brain to actually remember the knowledge that I am taking in. The second is to remember the people that I am lucky enough to share these days with. The last is to reflect on the month ahead, and try to anticipate what my struggles will be. All of which will be recorded in the New Years Resolutions 2018 page. Well, let's see if I can do it! 21 days down, 344 days to go.

On Star Wars and History Part 1

I'm going to try something new. My other posts have mostly been about presenting and interacting with facts and, while I've been researching many interesting topics over the past year, none have quite invigorated me to post (that being said, if you have not heard of Ambrosius Aurelianus, I would strongly recommend looking him up). As such, I'm going to try something new where I use a bit of modern media to help show how we as a culture look at history. Also, all pictures come from creative commons.

I recently saw the newly released, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," and a single line has been rolling around in my head. It's simple, it's towards the end, and it's meant to be a revelation.

Spoiler Alert!!!

You have been warned.

Read no further, ye who wish to learn this knowledge on your own.

Because creative commons doesn't have a spoiler banner...

It is a time of (fast forwarding)...

 

In what should be the last act of the movie, protagonist Rey and Vader-wannabe Kylo Ren are set to have a climactic duel. They stare each other down, both believing that they can turn the other to their cause.

"I know who your parents are," Ren shouts in a paraphrased fashion, "and I know that you do too." Rey gasps, tears come to her eyes. "You've always known, haven't you, deep down inside." Rey nods. "Say it!"

"They're nobody," she gasps. Ren nods.

"Just pitiful scavengers." 

That's right, Rey's parents are nobody. Not Han Solo, not Dancer #3, but nobody. They don't even get a mention in the credits. For all intents and purposes, they don't exist. Rey could have popped out of the ether, for all of the difference that would make.

What a disappointing revelation.

Even the emoji doesn't like it.

The problem is that it gives the wrong message. Rey should be able to stand on her own two feet. It shouldn't matter who her biological (more on that in a second too much of a tangent, so please see part 2) parents are, because she is awesome without them. She can be a someone or a no one, and it's her choice. Instead, the message is that the act of being a no one is something that must be escaped. Her strength comes not from choosing her own circumstances, but in escaping from them. Anything after that--joining Ren or leaving him--is merely the way that she achieves her goal.

So, what does this scenario have to do with history? Well, when I flip through a history book I find that it is filled with names. Some, like King Henry VIII and Cleopatra, were born great. Others, like John D. Rockefeller and Neil Armstrong, achieved greatness. Still more, like Elizabeth II and--I would argue, due to his reforms--Diocletian, have greatness thrust upon them. But, if history is the story of humanity, then the lesson is clear: either die great, or you might never have lived at all.

This moral, of course, is absolute trash. For one, it follows a very specific world view that prioritizes the power of the individual over the many--Rome would not have fallen with stronger emperors, rather than a myriad of societal problems--and for another, regardless of their impact, people lived. 

From reading history, a pattern emerges of good times and bad. Sometimes, life is good here because we are making it bad over there--a la the Belgian Congo or other forms of slavery--while other times it is bad overall in one area but relatively good in another--such as the century of plague in Europe that didn't have quite the same impact in America--and, quite frankly, I'm amazed that there hasn't been more study of the affect on Asia. 

Kind of like a heartbeat, except then overlayed by millions of other heartbeats until the whole thing just looks like one gigantic line.

Yet, despite everything, a complete recorded genocide is relatively rare. Attempted ones do crop up from time to time--the Holocaust is a prime example, but colonization and expansion tended to have similar effects on a smaller scale--but for the most part, the nameless lived. The ancestors of every single living person survived at least long enough to reproduce, and many went on for many more years.

For me, the hope of history is not that people were able to pull themselves into greatness but that despite the bad times, we as a species still managed to survive and find new ways to thrive. True, we as a species might be predisposed to look for the negative (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3) but if we can just embrace the fact that it's OK to be nobody, that nobodies still make a difference even if they don't get in history books, and that the rise and fall of nations and states have less to do with who is in charge and more with how life is being lived, I think (to bring this piece full circle and quite operational) we'll all find a bit more of the strength that Rey actually has, rather than the quality the movie wants us to see.

Why So Varied?

I'm going to start with a little story, about a teacher that I once worked with. We were tasked with planning out an entire year's worth of Middle School Social Studies curriculum. Sounds like fun, right?

Well...mostly...

My partner and I ended up having a little bit of a disagreement. This individual wanted to focus on Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome--with a little mention of India and China--while I wanted a broader view of history. I wanted to explore. I wanted...a varied view of history.

The obvious question is, why? Why do I want to take a varied view of history? Because, quite frankly, I think that it is important for my students.

But why? A critique might ask. Your compatriot was simply saying that you should focus on the basic road of Western Civilization, which is what the entire American civilization is based on.

If the topic's not part of our individual heritage, why should you care?

Because, I would counter, while American civilization is based on Western Civilization (meaning the philosophies and histories of the cultures of Europe, slowly moving further west from Mesopotamia as time goes by), that's no longer the case.

Let's look at some (be still, my heart) data.

The US currently had a population of 323,127,513 as of July 1st, 2016 (source). Let's simplify that to 323,000,000--because fewer non-zero digits make for happier numbers.

When the English first colonized the new world, the majority of the population in those colonies were from the UK. Other areas of what would become the US were filled with the Spanish, the French--at points, the Russians--and lots and lots of native Americans who would soon learn about the wonders of small-pox. Nothing makes people want to abandon settled cities like plague, and there's no plague like one you've probably never encountered. Anyway, of the people in the colonies, they had much bigger problems than education. Like finding food.

Go figure, most people prioritize food over knowledge.

So, let's skip ahead to the founding of the Republic, where our makeup is...still surprisingly homogeneous among the free population. Largely white, largely Western European, and largely protestant (side note: it just struck me as a little odd that the very west-west-west European power that started what would be the US happened to be the one west-west-west European power that is not Catholic. In terms of populations, that was not exactly likely). However, now that food is such a small problem that it can be exported without causing a major riot, education is seen as important. And, what do the thinkers of the time choose to read about? Well...everything, really.

Both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, of course, have plenty of references to Enlightenment thought. From the whole, "Life, liberty, and property," (sorry, "Pursuit of Happiness" for the edited version) to the belief in, "inalienable rights," Western thought is well represented. However, there's also references to Musselmen, a little bit of India, a little bit of China, all of these far cultures are seen as interesting to the early thinkers. However, what was taught in the schools? Well, to call it a mixed bag would be an understatement (source source). In some places education as we would recognize it was widely available. Other places had only apprenticeships, while still others had little more than private tutors for the wealthy. The subjects taught tended to be associated with the fashions of Europe, which revolved around the classics. In other words, not the sort of subject American children would be learning today.

Why did they learn these things?

Well, US education today is largely based around the idea of public education being a public good, with the ultimate goal of education to benefit society as a whole. Back then, education was more seen as a private good--with the ultimate goal being the benefit of the individual. As such, the cost/benefit for choosing what to teach students used a different metric. Also affecting these decision was that the skills students would need as adults were very different from today. For example, as computers weren't in existence yet, it would be illogical to teach the students how to keyboard. Likewise, because calculators are so common today--and calculator facsimiles making what would have long ago been daily calculations unnecessary--it is becoming harder and harder to justify forcing students to do all calculations quickly. Simple addition and multiplication problems, yes; calculated algebra and geometry, probably not.

Since the American Revolutionary War, both the demographics of the country and the skills that students will need to know have changed. Using the 2015 demographics (source), we can note some interesting demographic changes along racial lines. First, the percentage of the population that identifies as white has increased from 72.4% to 77.1%.

"Huzzah!" A traditionalist would say, "evidence that we should continue to focus on history as we always have."

"Good try, my fine friend," I counter, "but did you know that in the early part of the 20th century, Irish people weren't considered to be white?"

"So what?" Replies the traditionalist.

"Well, look again at the data, and see what I mean." The percentage of white-alone, non-Hispanic has decreased from 63.7% to 61.6%, while the percentage of white-alone, Hispanic has increased from 16.3% to 17.6%.

The definition of white as a racial group has increased to include Hispanics. And it's growing.

There is currently a discussion going on in the US, and it mostly appears across generational lines. It asks this question: are Asians white? (source) I'm not currently at that point yet--although I have no problem with the idea, I'm still just getting used to it--but the fact remains that the definition of what makes someone write is growing. In many ways it's losing its traditional definition, relating to heritage and genetic. Instead, it seems to have more to do with both position in American society and skin color as a whole. Which does beg the question: will African Americans ever become, "white"?

Sadly, that's not a question I'm going to explore now.

Instead, I'm more interested in what this expanding definition has to do with teaching Social Studies. As I said at the start, I'm more interested in teaching from a varied perspective of history, rather than the more traditional, Western-centric view (But India...you might say. Uh, British colonialism, I'm going to reply). The factors and histories that are now affecting the development of US society--I would argue--are expanding with the definition of what it means to be white. As such, I don't see teaching the histories of places such as China--or, if we're far enough along in world history--the nations of the Americas--which can lead to a great discussion of what makes a nation, a state, and a nation-state. In doing so, I don't see myself as teaching my students things that they will never need to know. Rather, I see myself as giving my students the information to understand where they come from, where they currently stand in the world, and what they can do to affect the future.

And if we don't empower students by giving their whole selves a place in the school, then what kind of a message are we telling them about their place in society?