One of my most important goals in teaching is to eliminate any sense of “urgency” in my class room. Unfortunately, it does seem to be a prevalent feeling among my students. Many of them seem to believe that there are always certain things that must be done immediately – a belief that causes them to have a tense and insistent expression on their faces. It’s almost as though they think their lives will take a major nosedive if particular tasks aren’t completed without delay. What I always hope to convince them of is that the universe has no sense of urgency, and therefore neither should they. It seems to me that this infinite cosmos that we are all part of goes about its infinite business in a totally non-urgent manner. Our feeling that urgency is essential is simply a delusion, because reality doesn’t work that way. Flowers don’t rush as they quietly proceed with their growing and blossoming; there’s no sense of exigency or pressure in our backyard gardens. Neither do the seasons struggle and push as the year progresses from month to month. Days arrive at their own sweet pace, and warm weather gives way to cold in uncertain and wavering ways. I guess I want to help my students learn to be more like the universe that they’re part of, the universe that creates a trillion things each moment in an utterly serene and almost indolent manner.