While growing up in Latvia (which was part of the Soviet Union at that time) many years ago, September was always associated with going back to school. September 1st was the date, to be exact. It was the date when the school year started for every single school and every single year all across the country of Latvia (and also all across the 15 republics of the Soviet Union –  all elementary, high schools, all colleges and universities – ALL schools started their school year on the very same day – September 1st. (Only if it fell on a Sunday we would start a school year on Monday, September the 2nd. If it fell on a Saturday (Saturdays were school days also, granted only half days, but still …), we went to school, celebrated the beginning of the school year and then took Sunday off, only to be back on Monday, and start in earnest.) It was also a celebrated and long-established tradition that all and every student – again, across the board in terms of age and place  – would carry gladioli or dahlias, or asters, the truehearted Fall flowers, to give to their teachers on that very first day of the school year. And doing that every year! There were students everywhere on the streets of Riga (a quick note: the private transport was almost non-existent and most children walked to schools or walked to the bus, tramway, trolleybus stops to get to schools) with flowers in their hands on the morning of September 1st. Most of them were wearing white blouses and shirts (meant for holidays and special celebrations) with their school uniforms. It was really touching and a touch comical to see the important looking 1st graders who were the same size as the tall gladioli flowers they were so proudly carrying! Then in the afternoon, if you spotted a person on the street or in public transport with a pile of flowers, you knew, you just knew, that it was a Teacher.  So, you would say out loud: “Happy 1st of September!” and feel honored that you have seen a teacher…  just like that – on the street. The people of that profession were respected, honored and even revered. 

September also brings back different flower and learning related memories – I recall how confused I was during the very first Fall we lived here, on the West coast (about 20 years ago). I was confused when looking at the flower offerings at the local stores. The source of my puzzlement was the fact that one could buy tulips in Fall! Tulips !!! Tulips – the ones of the very first Spring flowers, the very messengers who notify us all that Winter is gone and done –  could be bought in August and in September (and in October and November, and etc). I truly felt that something was messed up with this here! And when I saw beautiful, exotic flower arrangements made using color schemes and ignoring the seasons, it baffled me. And then in Spring one could buy gladioli (the messengers of approaching Fall season), one could buy sunflowers (the messengers of harvest time)… yeap, this was an interesting place to live! I had been learning to and trying mighty hard not to judge anyone and anything, to just accept things as they are, and yet…  I ventured into the forests of judgement when I saw flower arrangements with always living and ever present orchids coupled with tulips,sunflowers,roses and … you name it… Well, great, I get it that this is the representation of everlasting youth and never ending possibilities, but it goes totally against the rhythms of nature and life or at least against those rhythms and cycles of life that I was brought up with. And how do you teach the children about the seasons, and birth and death, if everything is to be found at the same time and in the same flower arrangement? Oh, well, you adapt, you become better at learning what is the norm in the new country of yours. And you actually learn to appreciate it. (And…oh, please, do not get me wrong –  I love orchids! Seriously, as I always wanted to be that old lady who grows different orchids on her windowsills and then takes them for walks, carrying them around the block, parading one orchid at a time… like a beloved old pet or a new lover! And one day I will be doing exactly that! And for the full disclosure – I also treasure tulips and sunflowers.) 

The emotions and feelings about the month of September back home were always so clear and clean cut – it was celebrated as the new beginning of the cycle. And for me, it still is the start of something new. So, I propose to make September the month of true learning for all of us, and, of course, it will be for all those schoolkids and students returning to schools and venturing into the unknown territories of online classes, and also for the rest of us. Personally, I will be learning more about many a thing, including food, guts, brain, nervous systems, spine, mind, soul, nutrition, my abilities to deal with serious illnesses and related thoughts, with my impatience and my arrogance, my memories and set ways, and… to do all that within the parameters of his newly formed and ever so different Covid world. Good luck to all of us!

So, having thought far and wide about my own needs and what teachings and teachers I would like to meet for this next month’s learning adventure, I have listed Let It Go Yoga practice as my staunch ally, together with a number of other practices, teachings and books. We will all need our allies!  

I am not sure when and where I first heard the Chinese saying, loosely translated to: “A teacher even for a day is a parent for lifetime”, but it resonated with my upbringing, my respect and gratitude for the teachers in my own life, and also in life in general. 

So, I would like to offer a big bunch of gladioli to all my teachers, and to all teachers  – past, present and future. Thank you. I am grateful for your wisdom, knowledge and selflessness in sharing it. Here is to learning and growing!

Written by Indra Strong, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher. Photo Credit: Liam Strong.

 

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