Detachment

I feel like I’ve just been hit by a truck. That has taken everything out of me. Uncontrollably sobbing. A dose of reality so real it hurts.  This film brought back feelings and memories rooted deep within me, and I’m going to use this opportunity to write down my emotional connection to the content of this film.  When I was in high school, there was a music teacher. Early 50’s. One of the warmest, most kind human beings you can imagine. He had a deep passion for classical music and would have loved nothing more than to teach it, but high schools are an unforgiving place. The school didn’t want to fund a music program, so he was constantly neglected to a dark, run down, half abandoned area of the school to conduct his lessons. Students would continuously tease him because of his lisp, they would throw paper across the classroom, every lesson would be like a riot of uncontrollable disruption and disrespect. Every time he would try to be empathetic and connect with students, it would be shut down by other students ruthless comments and inhumane behaviour. Luckily I was raised right, and would never treat somebody like that, but I was never strong enough to defend him and go against other kids in the class… even though I vaguely remember at that age sensing the pain in his eyes. I still feel culpable to this day. He never got any support. No aid from other teachers. Helpless. Wanting to make a positive impact, but never given the chance. This went on for years.    At some point much later into high school I recall him not being there anymore…but like kids do, I quickly forgot and thought nothing of it. Never thought about him again.     Many years later after I had graduated high school, I found out he had killed himself.  Being a teacher is hard. Really hard. With the reward not even being that great. The reward however for those that teach, is the positive difference you can make in somebody life. That is something that lasts forever. Many teachers will succeed, and never even know the impact they had, and that’s okay for them, they’ve accepted that. It’s an honourable pursuit to dedicate one’s life to helping others, but unfortunately due to the nature of the world, an often unappreciated one.  My children will never grow up to be like those other kids in my music class, and the world would be a much better place if we just had a few more people like Adrien Brody’s character in this film.  Be kind to others. Be empathetic to others. We are all human, and all going through the difficulties of existing in this world. Help each other, inspire each other to reach our full potential. This is a film that highlights the immense importance of that! and motivates me to continue doing it each and every day ❤️