A Little Inspiration

DH is reading a book called Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; this morning he read the following excerpt to me, and I was just as inspired as he was to apply it immediately, both personally and in our homeschool. See if it doesn't have the same effect on you:

As far back as there are records of human intelligence, the most prized mental gift has been a well-cultivated memory. My grandfather at seventy could still recall passages from the three thousand lines of The Iliad he had to learn by heart in Greek to graduate from high school. Whenever he did so, a look of pride settled on his features, as his mind returned to the years of his youth. ...For people of his generation, knowledge was still synonymous with memorization. Only in the past century, as written records have become less expensive and more easily available, has the importance of remembering dramatically declined. Nowadays a good memory is considered useless except for performing on some game shows or for playing Trivial Pursuit.

But for a person who has nothing to remember, life can become severely impoverished. ... A mind with some stable content to it is much richer than one without. It is a mistake to assume that creativity and rote learning are incompatible. Some of the most original scientists, for instance, have been known to have memorized music, poetry, or historical information extensively.

A person who can remember stories, poems, lyrics of songs, baseball statistics, chemical formulas, mathematical operations, historical dates, biblical passages, and wise quotations has many advantages over one who has not cultivated such a skill. The consciousness of such a person is independent of the order that may or may not be provided by the environment. She can always amuse herself, and find meaning in the contents of her mind. While others need external stimulation - television, reading, conversation, or drugs - to keep their minds from drifting into chaos, the person whose memory is stocked with patterns of information is autonomous and self-contained. Additionally, such a person is also a much more cherished companion, because she can share the information in her mind, and thus help bring order into the consciousness of those with whom she interacts.

Wow. When I read about such a person - someone who is a delight to be around because they know so much on a variety of subjects and can contribute to conversations in a variety of ways - I am determined to do my part to guide my little people in this direction. It is sometimes easy to let the memory work slide, during school time. When math takes forever and we've had to struggle with a history paper and we've had tears over how and what to capitalize, it's tempting to say, "Enough. Memory work can wait."

But now I think that perhaps memory work is a GREAT way to take a break. If it brings order to the mind... if it helps the mind to organize its work... if it keeps the mind crisp and ready to tackle the tasks of the day... then sign me up! My kids all memorize pretty easily. Memorization is an easy way for them to feel a sense of accomplishment. So it would make sense for me to capitalize on this advantage and fill their minds with the best.

And mine too. I confess that I don't spend as much time memorizing as I used to. But DH and I are both inspired to make this a whole-family project. Maybe we'll start with Proverbs. Or Shakespeare's sonnets. Whatever - I'm excited about this new adventure. And it's nice to feel excited about something - a welcome change.