Transition

 

     Making a transition involves going from one thing to another: one position to another, one idea to another, or one opinion to another.  Some transitions are voluntary; some are forced upon us.

     When someone is leaving a position, they often help the person taking over the job.  A smooth transition gives the new worker a better understanding of the requirements of the job and shows them how the former worker operated.  

     When that job is an elected position, the outgoing official can help the incoming one.  Citizens who had put their trust in the former official may have trouble accepting the new one.  By delaying acceptance of the new, the government may suffer.  Those who agree with the change may have an easier time than those who wish things were different.  A smooth transition will benefit the future.

     Some transitions are forced upon us. We may not want to change, but we have to adjust and look to the future.  Other changes come as we evolve from one opinion to another.   A time of transition can be uncomfortable as we go from a past way of thinking to a new, perhaps uncharted future.  People around us may become confused as to what is going on.  It may be easier for them if we stay the same.

     Our lives require changes.  As we go from one thing to another, we have to journey through transition. 

Modesty

                                                                                                                                                               

Down through history,  men have made rules about how women should dress.  Some believed that a women should only show her body to her husband, even to the extreme of completely covering up in public with only a peep hole to see out into the world.  Women would be preventing men from having lustful thoughts.  This mode of dress they claimed came from God.

Gradually cultures changed and allowed the head, arms, cleavage, and ankles to be exposed.  Fashion began to be important especially to those who could afford clothes that went beyond function.  Men would have lustful thoughts no matter what was covered up or what was exposed.

Today, most women realize they can choose what they want to wear.  Influences still exist from religion, culture, and society.  The media and pop culture often presents the ideal.  The fashion industry and other influencers promote the newest trendy styles.  Then as styles change, many women add to their wardrobe.

Some women dress to reveal much of their bodies.  They give away a view to anyone who cares to look, to flaunt their "beauty" to the world and attract the male.  Most males do not complain.  There doesn't seem to be any negatives in dressing this way.

In order to participate in this lack of modesty, women feel they need to have a perfect youthful body.  Exercise regimens and special diets are used to sustain a sexy appearance.  Improving general health seems a secondary benefit. When the body shows signs of aging, plastic surgery is considered.   Many women loose self-esteem when their bodies don't match up to the ideal.  Perhaps a better idea would be to dress modestly and force men to use their imagination.

Women, take pride in the way you choose to look.  Include modesty as part of your decision.   

Filters

 

                                                                                                                                                                           

     To brew good coffee, use an effective filter to allow the water to absorb the desired flavor while keeping out the unwanted grounds.  Our brain uses a filter that allows some info to be absorbed while keeping other info from passing into our thoughts.  We brew up our life by using a filter.

     Our filter is formed from the time we are born.  Our parents teach us what they believe, what  they think is important to flavor our lives and what we should discard.  Other influential people guide our thoughts, sometimes for our benefit, sometimes to our detriment.  Teenagers begin to realize they can alter their filter and change to a new way of thinking.  Adults may realize that they need a fresh filter. 

     We have the ability even the responsibility to become aware of our filter which may not be brewing a life that we want.  It may be allowing distortions and false information into our brain.  We need to evaluate what sources are reliable, what is true and what is false.  We can decide what we want to absorb and what we want to discard. 

     An outdated filter can cause misinformation and prejudices to cloud our life.  It can cause us to absorb false information while keeping out the truth.  Check your filter frequently to get a true brew.     

                  

UNTAMED

 

     Author Glennon Doyle shows us how to be "Untamed."  Wild creatures know how to take care of themselves, but people will put them in cages and try to tame them.  Humans often try to tame each other which distracts them from living the way nature intended.  Doyle states that "our culture was built upon and benefits from the control of women."  She continues that "when the world told me that a real girl is small, quiet, pretty, accommodating, and pleasant, I believed that this was the Truth.  I breathed in those lies, and they made me sick."  She tells girls that "you get to be everything: loud quiet bold smart careful impulsive creative joyful big angry curious ravenous ambitious."

     "Our men are caged, too.  The parts of themselves they must hide to fit into those cages are the slices of their humanity our culture has labeled 'feminine' - traits like mercy, tenderness, softness, quietness, kindness, humility, uncertainty, empathy, connection."  "The problem is that the parts of themselves that our boys have been banished from are not feminine traits; they are human traits."

     Doyle discusses sexism and racism. "Maybe we'll admit that liberty and justice for all has always meant liberty for white straight wealthy men.  Then maybe we'll gather the entire family at the table - the women and the gay and black and brown folks and those in power."

     "Often our beliefs are programmed into us without our knowledge by our culture, community, religion, and family."  "There is nothing more important than unearthing  what we really believe to be true about ourselves and the world."  Glennon Doyle explains how she freed herself from the cages holding her back from her truth and thus shows us how to free ourselves.  Whether or not you believe that God has something to do with finding Knowledge, Doyle leads us toward a more meaningful life. 

     

The Giver of Stars

                                                 

     "The Works Progress Administration's Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky program ran from 1935 to 1943.  At its height it brought books to more than a hundred thousand rural inhabitants."  Author Jojo Moyes writes this novel based on a true story of a small group of women who served in a small town and its surrounding rural area.  They were "The Giver of Stars." A sampler in their small library said "To Seek Knowledge Is To Expand Your Own Universe."  The books they provided taught children and adults how to read and enjoy "the diversion and hope that a good story could bring."  They read about how to improve their daily lives and received a view of other worlds and other times.

     Margery, Alice, Beth, Isabelle, Kathleen, and Sophia were the librarians in their small Kentucky town.  The people who lived in the surrounding rural area looked forward to each women arriving on horseback with bags of books from the library.  The librarians lives were also enriched as they learned about each family on their routes.  

       

WOKE

     Today you woke up, opened your eyes, and started a new day.  You live in the USA which aims to provide liberty and justice for all.

      Now, we need to wake up and realize that men and women, straight and LGBTQ, and every race needs to have equal justice, to be treated fairly by the community, the workplace, and the government and its representatives.  We need to open our eyes, become aware, extend our sympathy to those not treated fairly, and gain empathy for everyone, especially those that are different than we are. 

     Wake up.  See the world and all its people.  Start a new day.  Make it better than yesterday for everyone.

                                                                                                                                                                                       

Karl

   

     A good man, husband, father, and grandfather.  Karl's German/Swedish family was Lutheran for many generations.  He learned responsibility from a young age and continued to take charge of his own life.

     As a young teenager, he worked at a grocery store saving his money so he could go to college.   Although he was interested in sports, this job kept him from participating on school teams.  During his years at Indiana University, he worked on construction in the summers with his grandfather.  Unfortunately, he injured his hand on the job which disqualified him from military service.

     At college, he worked as a dishwasher to pay for the cost of his fraternity, where he enjoyed lots of parties with his college sweetheart.  They married after graduation, and in a few years had three daughters who went on to graduate from LSU.  He was so proud of his girls, and when they married, they gave him seven grandchildren.
     During his professional career, he was first in the corporate world then went into business for himself as an advisor to small businesses.  He learned to play golf which became his favorite pastime.  Every Sunday, he took his family to Lutheran Church.  His great-grandfather had been a Lutheran pastor.  We had many happy years together, and on our 55th Wedding Anniversary, July 20, he took his final breath.

Hard to Let Go

     If you are male, what would be hard to let go?  Historically having more rights, privileges, and power than females, given toys that stimulate math and science interests, being encouraged to develop talents and careers and go out into the world, free from monthly cycles, being able to have children without being pregnant, having females take the primary responsibilities caring for offspring and the household which allows males more freedom to pursue a career without interruption, having your family name as your children's last name, more likely to become high ranking political officials or CEOs, making more money.  

     If you are white, what would be hard to let go? Historically having more rights, privileges, and power  than non-whites, having a skin tone that isn't seen as being a member of "another" group, being in the majority group, having no ancestors who were enslaved, receiving proper treatment and justice, less likely to go to prison. 

     The white male is finding it very hard to let go of their position.  They are used to being treated better, being paid more, and having higher positions of power.  This power, however, is a result of the female and non-white populations having less power and lower status in society. Females and non-white races must continually struggle to obtain equality and justice. 

David

                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                    

     

     Born and raised in Kokomo, Indiana, David married his high school sweetheart.  He worked hard and provided a good life for his wife and child.

     

     Outdoors was his favorite place.  He and his dad would go fishing in a stocked gravel pit fed by a little creek in the back acres of the farm.  That night his mom would fry up the blue gills for supper.  The father and son would also go hunting in the woods and bring back rabbits and squirrels.

      

     Everyplace he lived, he always planted a big garden of sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, and strawberries.  He would put on a pot of water to boil, then pick and shuck the corn and cook right away.  When the crops were very plentiful, he canned those vegetables for use in the winter months.  With such a sweet and loving nature, he shared whatever he had.

     

     Besides providing food for his family and friends, he was always ready to give his time and a helping hand to many life-long friends.  His parents called him David, his wife Dave, his co-workers Brownie, and later in life his grandchildren called him Grandpa. I called him Dad.  

      

Virginia

     

                                                   

     Most women of her generation were what we now call stay-at-home moms.  Virginia followed this pattern until her child was old enough to be safe at home for a few hours after school.   She then started to work outside the home.

     As a young woman, she lived with her widowed mother.  They lived a modest life, and a few years later she married her high school sweetheart.  They had a child and remained a happy family of three.  She kept a ledger of the family finances, bought Savings Bonds, and set aside money in a bank savings account.

     In a few years, they built their dream house and added beautiful furnishings.  She appreciated this higher standard of living and made sure everything was well cared for, neat and clean - a place for everything and everything in its place.

     When their child was thirteen, she obtained employment at the local bank as secretary to the president.  By living within their means and saving their money, she and her husband were able to provide a college education for their daughter.

     They became life-long friends to another couple.  When the man went off to war, they were loyal friends to his wife and baby girl.  The couples remained close friends, having fun together.

     Virginia took loving care of her home and family and was a loyal friend her entire life.

     I love you, Mom.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Stubborn

     You have made up your mind and don't want to budge.  You have confidence that your beliefs are correct, and you feel you have good reasons to think and behave the way you do.  You stick to your guns.  Perhaps you are set in your ways and like things just the way they are.  No one is going to push you around.  Being stubborn can be seen as an asset.
     However, if you turn off your ears, eyes, and mind to change, you may continually go down a wrong or dangerous path, not realizing or admitting better choices exist.  Mental and physical health may deteriorate.  Relationships may suffer if you can't compromise.
     On a lighter note, being stubborn may stop you from enjoying something new, from expanding your horizons and making your life more interesting and rewarding.  If you keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, you enable yourself to change.
     Change may involve taking a risk you don't want to take.  Fear may be involved.  Emotions may cause you to want to just stay in your familiar situation.  Don't be so stubborn that you become your own worst enemy.
   

Little Fires Everywhere

     "The firemen said there were little fires everywhere.  Multiple points of origin.  Possible use of accelerant.  Not an accident."  The Richardson house caught fire in 1998.
     "The Shakers had indeed left the land that would  become Shaker Heights" an affluent suburb of Cleveland, Ohio that "had been founded, if not on Shaker principles, with the same idea of creating a utopia."  Elena Richardson grew up with this sense of order and regulation being the "key to harmony."  She planned her life of marriage and motherhood "with a propensity to overachieve and a deep intolerance for flaws."
     Mia Warren grew up in a middle-class home and left for New York to attend art school.  She believed that "anything had the potential to transform, and this to her, seemed the true meaning art."  Living in a variety of cities, she created her art and moved on.  She and her daughter Pearl came to Shaker Heights and rented an apartment from Elena.
     Mia's daughter Pearl made friends with the four Richardson teenagers and began to admire their lifestyle, seeing all the material things she had missed out on.  Elena's youngest daughter Izzy felt out of place in her own family and began to admire Mia, her choice of lifestyle, her personality, and her art.  "Something inside Izzy reached out to something in her and caught fire."
     Other families, other mothers in Shaker Heights, tried to make the right decisions, but often made their own mistakes.  "What made someone a mother?  Was it biology alone or was it love?"
     Mia said to Izzy that "sometimes you have to scorch everything to the ground and start over."  "Sometimes you need to start over from scratch."  She was referring to why she and Pearl had to move away.  Izzy took her words to heart.
     The novel and the TV series differ in some respects, but both tell a compelling story.  I recommend both.
   

COMMUNICATIONS

                                                                                                                                                                         
     Now a major in college, the skills associated with this subject can improve personal relations and facilitate professional careers.
     Learning to communicate begins as young children observe and listen to people around them then send messages back and forth.  Reading and writing extend these communication skills.  One-on-one conversation, speaking and/or writing to a group, or relaying information to the public may be accomplished through many types of media.
     First, show an interest in your family members and make an effort to have conversations.  Listen and speak, ask questions, discuss what you may have in common, and learn from each other.  This can prepare you for the day you have to interview someone or when a prospective employer interviews you.  Write a letter or email telling your news and show an interest in the recipient's life.  In the future, you will use the skills you can practice now.
     Second, keep an ear and an eye on current events.  Have a historical awareness to compare and contrast today's topics.  Try to understand a variety of points of view.  Recognize bias and manipulation.   Pursue your interests and develop your talents.
     Third, realize that communication is a two-way street.  As you send messages, you need to anticipate how your messages will be received.  As you get feedback, your messages will improve.
      Having a college degree in Communications will prepare you to begin a variety of careers in business, journalism, broadcasting, and any field that relies on listening, speaking, and writing be it as a public figure or behind the scenes.
      If you are deciding on a college major or if you are entering or reentering the workforce, please do something that you are interested in and will enjoy.  Of course, the paycheck is important, but don't make that the primary consideration.  Having good communication skills will be an asset in your personal and professional life.

CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND

                                               

     Being China Rich is just an entryway requirement to the highest status.  Wealth and prestige must go back for generations.  All the acquired possessions have to show elite status: the right house or penthouse apartment, luxury cars, private planes to whisk you around the world at a moments notice, couture clothes, priceless jewels, art collections, and anything else that impresses the connoisseur.
     Nicholas Young comes from such a family while his finance Rachael Wu, a Chinese-American, has been raised by her mother of meager means.  They go back to China to find her father she has never met.
      Who is the China Rich Girlfriend?   

High School Graduates of 2020

                                                                                                                                                                         

     This spring has been a season of sacrifice being forced to give up the last few weeks of going to school with your classmates and participating in graduation ceremonies.  Your sacrifice in order to stay healthy and allow others to stay healthy is a great accomplishment.  You have learned to appreciate the freedoms so often taken for granted.  You have had the opportunity to spend more time with your family and find ways to use this extra time at home.
     Learn from this unique experience; put all into perspective as people all over the world are going through this situation and many people in past generations have faced similar hardships.  Hopefully, we will learn how to better handle future problems.  When these unusual times have passed, you will be able to get on with your future, perhaps continuing your education in the fall.
      Realize what is essential to live a good life.  Appreciate your healthy body and mind.  Be thankful for your family for what they do for you and seek ways to do good for others.  Be aware of what other people are doing for you especially the scientists discovering ways to keep the earth and its inhabitants safe plus all the caregivers ready to help you when you most need their services.
     Savor the moments of your life, the sweet and sour, the bland and spicy.  Listen to all sides of an issue and keep an open mind.  Breathe in the fresh air and keep our environment healthy.  See and appreciate the beauty of nature.  Feel the love you absorb and give your love to others.  

Childlike or Childish

                                                                                                                                                                               
     Being childlike includes many positive traits like being curious and playful.   It may also include finding comfort in being dependent and having an authoritative figure guiding their life.
     Being childish often means not thinking and behaving like others of your age and experience.  Emotional immaturity, lacking self-control, being self-centered and insensitive to others, and being impulsive without considering the facts or the consequences are all considered childish.  Adults labeled narcissistic often get upset when criticized,  blame others for their mistakes, and rudely belittle those who disagree with them.
     Adults can benefit from being childlike at times while still having the self-confidence to prefer independence.  Taking a break from adult responsibilities can actually refresh us so we can return to adulthood.  It would be to our detriment to be childish ourselves or accept childish behaviors in leaders responsible for our well-being.
   
       

Secular Ethics

                                                                                                                                                                                                 
     This pandemic has required us to think about what is best for ourselves, our country, and the world.  We all are sacrificing, feeling compassion for those suffering, and trusting science to return us to better times.  Ethical decisions have been made for our survival.
     Secular Ethics is based on human faculties such as logic, empathy, reason or moral intuition and not derived from belief in supernatural revelation or guidance.  Secular ethics has much in common with many religious morality codes.
     The beginnings of ethics can be witnessed in nonhuman animals as they form social behaviors first within their kinships as parents sacrificing for their offspring and continuing as they follow behaviors that benefit their group like sharing food.  Those animals that reciprocate and help each other strengthen the community.  Evolution continued these positive traits in human beings who became more reflective and logical, then designed the best ways to live and set rules of behavior.  Beneficial behaviors were encouraged such as honesty and cooperation, while other behaviors were discouraged, even prohibited.  The concepts of good and bad, right and wrong were established.  Punishments were put into place for the lawbreakers.
     Throughout history, some cultures were sidetracked, created a deeper divide between the powerful and the powerless, instituted slavery, resorted to violence and war, which in some cases led to their downfall.  A few cultures became more democratic, valuing the individual.   Some cultures yearned to understand the unknown and placed value on supernatural explanations.  Religions seemed to produce answers and created their own set of ethics and rules of behavior.  Many myths and stories of heroes were handed down even before written language.
    Today, many people value supernatural explanations which include rules of behavior.  They may believe that human nature is too selfish and misguided to do the right thing.  Others believe that logic and reason can prevail with good parenting and ethical leadership, that individuals can behave well for their own benefit and for the benefit of the group.
    We still have a long way to go.  Secular ethics can guide us to ensure our citizens and people around the world have equal rights and opportunity.

The Yellow House

     "The Yellow House" 4112 Wilson Avenue, New Orleans East, Louisiana from 1961 until Hurricane Katrina damaged it beyond repair was home to Ivory Mae who raised twelve children there, the youngest being author Sarah M. Broom.  This memoir tells the story of Broom's ancestors, parents, siblings, other family members, neighbors, and friends.  This also is a story of place: the development and decline of the community just east of New Orleans and New Orleans itself including the French Quarter, both the romanticized image and the real story of the residents and workers.
     Sarah Broom relates her life story as a young girl growing up who kept a journal throughout her life, went away to college, and had various jobs including as a writer for Oprah Magazine, then as a speech writer for Mayor Ray Nagin until she lost faith in his leadership rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
     "We are all born into histories, worlds existing before us.  No place is without history."  As a teenager she states, "I wrote in a notebook (my writing everything down having become, by then, habit.)."  After living in other places, she rented an apartment in the French Quarter. "Thus it could be said that my reaching to understand the French Quarter was a yearning for centrality, a leading role, so to speak, in the story of New Orleans, which is to say the story of America."
     Eleven years after Katrina, "Mom signed away the yellow house and its land, which she had owned for more than half a century."  "The story of our house was the only thing left."

Alone

     Are you stranded on a deserted island?  Are you in solitary confinement, imprisoned because of misdeeds?  Are you a prisoner  of war?  Are you a refugee who has fled from a dangerous home?  Are you confined to a hospital bed fighting for your life?  Are you an orphan, widow, or widower?  Are you really alone?
      Remember or imagine before computers, iPhones, and TVs were invented when landlines, radio, snail mail, and paper newspapers were the primary ways to communicate other than face to face?  What about books as a way to look into the minds of others?
      Actually, everyone is alone inside their own body and within their own mind.  Nature around you presents mostly good things for human survival.  Nature also creates mutations, some within the human body and some that invade the human body which at times has a difficult time adjusting.  These mutations can occur anywhere in the world when certain conditions present themselves.  Medical science can often help.
     Many people believe supernatural forces can help.  They also believe that the great supernatural force created nature and answers pleas for help.  This is a comfort for many.
     Take time to think deeply into your beliefs.  Also consider why you have the opinions that you do.  Have you been manipulated to have extreme likes and dislikes?  Consider what you have instead of what you don't have.  Realize the freedoms you have instead of the freedoms that have been curtailed.  Use the time you have in beneficial ways.
     Stay healthy and survive.       
     

The Book of Gutsy Women

     
     All around the world for many centuries, women have had the courage and resilience "that made the world a better place."  Hillary and Chelsea Clinton present stories featuring both famous women and some not so well known; however, all deserve to have their stories told.  Eleven categories include a multitude of women: Early Inspirations like Helen Keller and Anne Frank; Education Pioneers like Maria Montessori and Joan Ganz Cooney; Earth Defenders like Rachel Carson and Jane Goodall; Explorers and Inventors like Sally Ride and Marie Curie; Healers like Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton; Athletes like Venus and Serena Williams; Advocates like Eleanor Roosevelt and Gabby Giffords; Storytellers like Maya Angelou and and Ali Stroker; Elected Leaders like Bella Abzug and Barbara Mikulski; Groundbreakers like Katharine Graham and Ellen DeGeneres; Women's Rights Champions like the Suffragists and Fraidy Reiss.

     "Throughout history and around the globe, women have overcome some of the toughest and cruelest resistance imaginable from physical violence and intimidation to a total lack of legal rights or recourse, in order to redefine what is considered a woman's place."  "Ensuring the rights, opportunities, and full participation of all women and girls remains a big piece of the unfinished business of the twenty-first century."

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

                                                                                                                                                                                   
     In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, formerly know as Ludwig Eisenberg, "was just one among countless young men stuffed into wagons designed to transport livestock."  They were taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.  For two and a half years, he endures this horrible prison and survives by being a Tatowierer.  During that time, he meets Gita, and they fall in love.  He tells his fellow prisoners, "I don't know what fate lies in store for any of us."  "He thinks back to the vow he made at the beginning.  To survive and to see those responsible pay."
     Lale tells Gita, "How any merciful god could let this happen, I don't know."  "I believe in you and me, and getting out of here, and making a life together..."  Gita tells Lale that he "will honor them (those who suffered and died) by staying alive, surviving this place and telling the world what happened here."
     And that is what happened.  The Nazis were defeated.  Lale and Gita married in 1945 and many years later had a son Gary.  He asked his mother how she handled later challenges in life.  "With a big smile on her face she said that when you spend years not knowing if in five minutes' time you will be dead, there is not much that you can't deal with."
     In his later years, Lale finally told his story to author Heather Morris.
 

The Show

     Give them what they want.  The main event, the Super Bowl, gives us male strength, agility, and controlled violence.  Halftime is a break from all that.  Music and dance is in the spotlight.  The girls give us what we want.  We hear upbeat sounds and see feminine moves that highlight their strengths.
     What does football give us?  That is another topic.  What did the show give us?

Offense Plus Defense Plus Fans

 

     Many sports teams have two parts: the offense and the defense.  The offense takes possession of the ball and tries to move closer to the goal and score points.  When the other team has the ball, the defense tries to find their weaknesses, counter their progress, and repossess the ball.
     Communication also has two similar parts.  When we speak and write, we usually have a goal in mind and want to make a point, to present an idea, to win an "argument."   When we listen and read, we have to recognize the opposition, see their strengths and weaknesses, and protect our position.  We use offensive and defensive strategies to prove our ideas are stronger and closer to the truth.
     Teams benefit from fans who support and cheer them on as they show their offensive and defensive skills.  We hope our team is stronger and victorious over the the opposing team.  When we speak and write, we have possession of the ball and have our chance to make points.  When people listen to and read what we say, they may agree and become our fans or disagree.  A good communicator needs to speak to those who easily agree and to those who need to be persuaded to change their minds.
     As you support your favorite team, notice the offensive and defensive strategies.  As you communicate, remember to make your point to both your fans and your opposition.
     
 

Educated: A Memoir

     Tara Westover grew up in a rural Idaho family that didn't send its children to school or take them to a doctor.  Her father dominated the family with his extreme beliefs and exaggerated interpretation of the Bible.  Her mother went along with these beliefs while becoming a herbalist and a midwife. Some of Tara's siblings continued to live a similar life.  Some broke away and moved on, but Tara began a long and difficult journey to another life.
     She wrote in her journal, "It's strange how you give the people you love so much power over you."  Nevertheless, Tara began studying and learning how to think for herself.  She read about negative liberty - the freedom from external obstacles and about positive liberty - the freedom from internal constraints, "to be liberated from irrational fears and beliefs, from addictions, superstitions."  She attended many universities and earned advanced degrees. "What is s person to do, I asked, when their obligations to their family conflict with other obligations - to friends, to society, to themselves?"   She became "a changed person, a new self."  "You could call this selfhood many things." "I call it an education."