B.B. King and Community

"Man is by nature a social creature." -Aristotle's Politics

Perhaps I've misquoted the father of western logic off the top of my head, but how true a statement it is! I've always been a huge fan of the idea of man as a social being, and the greatest aspect of the Teacher Corps I believe is its social nature. Many recent college graduates lead comparatively lonely, repetitive, boring lives upon entering the 'real world' and fortunately enough I've found my unofficial clique here in Mississippi, for any of whom I would do anything and with whom I feel supremely comfortable just like any of my old high school and college buddies. This benefit of the program far outweighs any of the meager intellectual benefits I've received through schoolwork and the like, and though I hate to ruin it by naming it explicitly, I truly hope the first years appreciate how far out of the way some us are going to strengthen the bonds between seniors and freshmen. Some of my peers and I have been absolute troopers taking care of our busy work during the day, staying out way past bedtime to be social for their sake and ours, commuting way too long and sleeping very little. Couzapalooza should be a phenomenal success.

Already I've begun where I hoped to end, but these thoughts were brought about in part by several recent conversations and more specifically by my recent trip with Elizabeth, Anderson, Robbie, and Evan to Indianola to see B.B. King's annual return to the Delta. The King of the Delta Blues has noticeably aged and slowed in recent years to the point where his show can hardly be called much of a blues concert anymore, and yet, it was a surreal experience. Maybe it was staying up until the not so small hours of the morning for the billionth night in a row, but it's just one of those things youhave to for the sake of doing it and be a better person for it. I myself needed some convincing to make the trip, nap for an hour or two, and drive several hours back to Ole Miss for all of a ten minute conference, but luckily I had friends who convinced me, and I couldn't be happier for it.

I guess the point is that deep down, no, not even so deep down inside I feel eternally grateful that I've met an amazing cast of characters in the play called Dave Jones's life in a place where I least expected it. The love I give and receive as part of these human bonds I've made is quite simply one of the pagan gods before whom I supplicate myself humbly, and that I have this when most others I know are doping with the realities of loneliness makes the god all the more awesome in my eyes.