We’ve been taught since we were knee-high to a hedgehopper (thank you, Eureka Springs third graders) that people around us who laugh are more likely to be admired than those who criticize. Didn’t we grow up clapping our hands when someone merrily surprised us?
When we watch toddlers negotiate their environment by learning to speak and move, we see them make mistakes. They see mistakes, too. They learn language by using it, they learn to stand, walk and run by falling down, then trying again because they assume they’ll get it right.
Learning is a chancy thing that involves terror, belief and delight.
JB Pritzker is the governor of Illinois. He read that there was an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Rather than throwing a futile fit, Pritzker said OK, fine. “From now on, Lake Michigan will be Lake Illinois. Great lake, great state.”
We need comic relief when we’re learning the difference between right and collapse.
Pritzker hinted at a press conference next week regarding the “Mississippi” River.