Just Walking Down the Street

Whenever I walk through town, I see things with futuristic eyes. It's as if I am granted a glimpse into the near future, or at least one of the possible futures. I've gone to the library today and right across the street from it is a new building project. Supposedly a college and student housing. I was able to imagine a scenario where students, young and old, were gladly enjoying what the college had to offer. Right across the street would be the library. You gotta know that we have one of the nicest libraries here in town that I have ever seen.

The library concept is one that appeals to me a lot. In this way, I was imagining the students to go about that which they wanted to learn. The slogans on the advertisement posters around the periphery of the building site were not fitting my inner vision. It wasn't about career choices. It was about passion. It was about the passion to learn that which is interesting. That which brings the most enjoyment. Equally, it wasn't about diplomas, degrees, papers to show the world a student's accomplishments, let alone that being a means to get a job. Also, it wasn't about equalized study programs in which each student has to learn the same thing than their peers who end up with the same diploma.

I imagined the building of a new site where people, young and old, could try out things that interested them, library style. You get to pick and choose and after a bit you return your books, for the next people to enjoy them. In this society, learning, schooling etc still costs an enormous amount of money. I imagine a system, where it is part of the deal to give back, where borrowing what is necessary to learn something comes with the joy of returning the favor, where students become teachers, as part of their mastery of the chosen subjects. This whole thing would run free of charge.

Yes, I know, maintaining a library does cost money, taxes cover that mostly, but I did glimpse a possible future where everything is free and money is no longer an issue. All I could see was happy faces, busy folks who were eager to learn, who learned with joy and wanted to give back into society as well as within the learning community.

I let this stand as a dream today, a brief glimpse of what is possible, for if I and perhaps others can begin to see their towns differently from what they currently are, by merely walking along the street, I believe that the future possibilities are almost within our grasp and just perhaps they will manifest that way. Bottom line, it was a moment of joy that I wanted to share and it left me with a big smile on my face.