Blog
Hidden Depths
Shrek: |
Ogres are like onions. |
Donkey: |
They stink? |
Shrek: |
Yes. No. |
Donkey: |
Oh, they make you cry. |
Shrek: |
No. |
Donkey: |
Oh, you leave ‘em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin’ little white hairs. |
Shrek: |
No. Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers. |
I don’t know about ogres, but Shrek is right about people in general; we have layers. We have a surface layer that we present to the outside world. This is our protection, like the outside of an onion; this dry, brown skin protects the softer layers underneath. Unlike an onion, we generally have a choice about which layers we reveal and who we reveal them to.
When it comes to our students, we only know what they choose to tell us about themselves. We don’t necessarily know that throughout lockdown student X in year 9 did the shopping for the elderly man who lives 3 doors down the road. We don’t know that student Y has written a novel. We don’t know that student Z has their own forge and wants to become a blacksmith (this was actually true of a student who left year 13 last year).
In the interest of encouraging people to communicate more about themselves, I would like to share something about myself. I am an amateur luthier. Contrary to the popular misconception, luthiery has nothing to do with the Protestant Reformation, the Civil Rights Movement, “Never Too Much” or even a hard-bitten BBC detective drama. Luthiery is the art of making stringed instruments.
I first began to learn this craft about three years ago, and although the progress on the guitar that I am building has been slow, I am proud of what I have achieved. Whilst it is painstaking, precise work, I find the process to be mindful, enabling me to shut off from life’s pressures for a while.
I would like to get to know all members of our community better. What is it that you do to relax? What interests you? What wonderfully kind, creative or fun things do you do in your spare time? We can only ever know what you chose to share with us; but if we do not know, then we cannot celebrate the amazing things that you do.
