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Quote and photo: G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

September is a great month, children back at school, students at College, and with the extreme heat of my summer in Spain behind me I am ready for action, if action there be, courtesy of covid.

The start of the academic year brings to mind the great contradictions in institutional education and our attitudes to learning: things are worth doing both well and badly.

They are worth doing well so we fulfil ourselves to our maximum potential. Doing well leads to success and is a great motivator. Doing well is good for our self-confidence and self-esteem. We are complimented, admired by those around us.

But there are many things worth doing which we might not be good at. It could be maths, or sports, or playing the guitar. Each contain a vast magnificence of skills and knowledge. To explore each is to enter a world of beauty. We can enter each world even though we may not achieve excellence. To take time to learn to play the guitar knowing you are unlikely to be very good at it is to show humility and wisdom in recognising how we are enriched by the process. The destination is not important, but the journey is.
That is why I agree with G.K. Chesterton, and he would have agreed with my bit added in brackets.

Thank you for reading.