Read on Twitter
1. Indulge me, if you will, a short thread about my mother. She was a teacher (and substitute teacher) for years, then when I was around 11, became the principal of an elementary school. She was there for over 30 years, beloved by teachers, parents, & students alike.
2. Then she "retired," which meant shifting to occasional substitute teaching, tutoring, social-servicing, you name it -- the reduction in working hours was, let& #39;s say, minimal. She is one of those people who always, always has to be doing stuff. (I ... did not inherit that.)
3. Now she & my dad (who *actually* retired) live in Lynchburg, VA, where she volunteers at a CASA (court-appointed special advocate) program. Basically, she gets to know kids in difficult circumstances & works w/ them & their parents to navigate social & educational programs.
4. The work she does is, from my perspective, just grueling, emotionally & physically. She& #39;s dealing with abused kids, drug-addicted parents, kids whose parents came to the country illegally & don& #39;t speak English, over-burdened courts, underfunded programs, on & on.
5. I& #39;ve tried to ask her why she takes this on when she could just be relaxing. I& #39;ve tried to engage her in philosophical/moral discussions, so I can suss out her motivations. I want to figure out what she tells herself, how she motivates herself. But ...
6. ... she doesn& #39;t have words for it. She& #39;s not an abstract thinker like me, no grand moral theories or anything. I think if forced to explain, she would just point to the kids. Look: these kids are in trouble. They need help. I can help. That& #39;s it, nothing more.
7. She& #39;s just one of those people for whom doing good, being good, is not a decision. It& #39;s not derived from anything; it is primary, foundational, the axis around which the rest of the world is arranged. For her, to live, to be alive, is to do good -- to *help*.
8. Throughout my life, whenever I find myself spinning grand theories, talking myself out of doing the simple, good thing (which I& #39;m very good at), I think: what would mom do? She would be good. She would help. If theories lead elsewhere, so much the worse for theories.
