Educating The Heart

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all" - Aristotle

 

My daughter has now returned from her trip to India. She was deleriously tired last night after a long, long journey home, via Dehli. I received a semi-comprehensible call pleading to be met at the coach drop-off with a pizza. She sounded so tired, yet happy that I thought, why not?

On the way I picked up a double pepperoni, stuffed crust pizza and after a short wait in the car was met by a member of the walking dead. She stumbled across to me and I got as hug (red letter day!!). We gathered her bag, or should I say that I did, she said her goodbyes and we got in the car.

As she went to sit down she saw the pizza and crumbled in delight. She sat on the seat and as she ate the spicy slices she was pretty much crying in pleasure.

When she had eaten enough, we did talk about her trip, but it was obvious that she was struggling to keep any train of thought. Her sentences drifted off and silly smile sat on her face. She was almost incoherent.

At home she fussed over her dog and pulled a few things from her bag. This had not been a holiday and she had missed one of the two shopping trips when she accompanied a friend who had fainted to hospital. My gift was a bag or aromatic Indian coffee. I may no sound like much, but I could see the good intent on her face.


At that point she crashed into bed only to be up and buzzing again this morning. She was beside our bed at 7:30 (it has been unusual to see her before midday on free days in recent months), but with the trip and time difference she was stoked.

Not only that but she grabbed a laptop and then got on the bed between my wife and I to show is photographs from her trip. I struggle to remember the last time it was OK, let alone a good idea in her mind, to get in between us ( I think she was sick and wanted TLC from her mum ), but this time she was there and shining.

She has since crashed again and is asleep where she "fell" on our bed.

The reason I have posted this is because she also handed me a small book(let) called "Best Quotations For All Occassions". She had been given this when visiting one of the schools in Bangalore. It is a collection of 2030 quotations collected and printed by someone called M D Keshava Murthy and is inscribed "Token of Love and Affection" and dated.

On the back cover was the quotation shown above and it struck me that to hear her recount her trip and her time with the children and schools in India, this trip definitely qualifies asan education of her heart. Only time will tell, but I think these last ten days will be something of a watershed in my daughter's appreciation of the world around her - if so then the money spent and the time taken will be a great investment in her future.

Finger crossed.