Knowledge as the goal

Wednesday in class we were asked to blog about a time when we traded insults with someone, and I just don't have anything to write about. I grew up as an only child so I didn't get to share fights with a sibling. I'm pretty good at marital "discussions," but even then I have managed to not say much I would regret. But something Dr. Sexson mentioned about acquiring knowledge compels me to write. I attended college right after high school for about a year and a half, but didn't really have a "goal", and it seemed like a better idea to be a beach bum for awhile. I eventually got married and had children, but the idea of returning to school stayed with me. It never seemed like the right time, I stayed involved with family and community things, ran a home-based business, all of which were worthwhile. Then my kids started attending college and the time still wasn't right for financial reasons. In my forties we adopted a 2 yr. old, and I realized I could spends years waiting for another child to grow up, and made the decision to go to MSU. I had absolutely no goal in mind beyond taking all the Women's Studies classes available, since that was my interest. Since MSU does not offer a Major in Women's Studies, I also took whatever literature classes interested me. People would ask me what my major was, what I wanted to do, and I had no idea - seems like most "non-traditional" female students return to school to get a teaching or nursing degree, neither interested me. I just wanted to take interesting courses. Eventually, though, the General Studies Dept thought I should have a direction, or at least be assigned to another dept. besides theirs - I already had a good start on an English Literature degree, so here I am. I guess my point with this is, the degree became important because it shows I have reached a "goal"but actually what has been worthwhile are the courses I have taken - even some I had no interest in originally. So will this really do me any good? I won't spend decades at a career, my husband will be retiring in about 10 years, about the same time as our youngest child graduates from high school, was it selfish to spend lots of money and time to attend MSU? I'll probably even die before all my student loans are paid! But it has been worthwhile just to gain more knowledge about subjects I'm interested in, and I don't think I would have appreciated the opportunity to do this 30 years ago.

I love Lysistrata - the scene between Myrrhine and Cinesias is my favorite scene - but the exchanges between the men's chorus and women's chorus are great. There is something very real about the old women finally expressing their feelings - something I've noticed about women in their 70s and 80s. They also tend to use more explicit words and don't have the patience to endure some of the niceties - they are often blunt, but refreshing. Younger people can often be shocked or surprised by this, but I consider it more hopeful than the idea of sitting quietly and politely on the sidelines of life. Lysistrata's speech Lines 574-586, using the metaphor of untangling and cleaning the wool and the mess men have made of their society is great, and historically accurate for what we are enduring now. Funny, we somehow haven't seemed to learn from history. Maybe someday....