INSPIRATION FOR THOSE WHO STRUGGLE THROUGH THURSDAYS

If you’re anything like our friend Arthur from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (“This must be Thursday,’ said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer. ‘I never could get the hang of Thursdays.”), sometimes Thursdays can be difficult. With the weekend fast approaching, he are “10 Rules for Students and Teachers” from the enigmatic John Cage to motivate you.

(I would argue that these rules could apply to everyone, not just students and teachers…. but then, I would also argue that everyone is also both a student and a teacher…)

“RULE ONE: Find a place you trust, and then, try trusting it for awhile.
RULE TWO: General duties of a student – pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.
RULE THREE: General duties of a teacher – pull everything out of your students.
RULE FOUR: Consider everything an experiment.
RULE FIVE: Be self-disciplined. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
RULE SIX: Follow the leader. Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There is only make.
RULE SEVEN: The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things. You can fool the fans – but not the players.
RULE EIGHT: Do not try to create and analyze at the same time. They’re different processes.
RULE NINE: Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
RULE TEN: We are breaking all the rules, even our own rules, and how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for ‘x’ qualities.
HELPFUL HINTS: Always be around. Come or go to everything. Always go to classes. Read everything you can get your hands on. Look at movies carefully and often. SAVE EVERYTHING – it might come in handy later.”