When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

I love this quote attributed to Buddha. It makes me think of important teachers in my life. I think I have been open to lessons and I hope that I always will be. Allow me to share my thoughts on one special teacher who came into my life, a dynamic and vibrant woman who is Ida.

In twenty years of therapists and soul searching I have realised that there are three things in my life, three special gifts of learning that have brought me close to being at peace with myself. The first is my crafts – the execution of, or just gazing upon, quilting; embroidery; textiles ... The second is the way in which my parents showed me to relate to a Higher Being. The third is a lady named Ida Gartrell, who taught me from the age of 9 until I finished high school at the age of 17.

We had moved to a new town and I was convinced that I NEEDED drama lessons. I think this was based on the experience of being the wizard in the Wizard of Id at an end of year school production.  I loved wearing the huge big scary mask. As my new school did not have drama lessons, I nagged Mum to fix things. I knew that she could fix everything, of course. I remember Mum telling me that she had found a lady at the library who might give me lessons. That lady was Ida. Ida came and interviewed me at our house, sitting at our dining room table. At the conclusion of the interview she said that she would give us her decision. I cried copious tears, my heart broken, convinced that this meant she would not take me on as a student. I had very little awareness of Ida as a separate person with her own life to take care of and decisions to make. Mum consoled me and gave me lessons in positive thinking, and looking at the brighter side of life. Somehow I managed to get some sleep that night, waking up in the morning with the proverbial butterflies in my stomach and living on tenterhooks until Ida’s decision to take me as a student was finalised. I never suffered as my fellow teenagers did, I worried very little about boys or fashion or discos. I had Ida’s lessons to see me through.

A relationship built on respect and love (and hero worship on my side) was begun. No matter how busy Mum & Dad were, and how inconvenient it was for them, they always managed to get me to my “drama” lessons with Ida. I say drama in parenthesis, because Ida teaches so much more than Drama. She teaches self confidence, self esteem, and the art of trying to accept everyone for whom and what they are. I did not realise it at the time, but Ida gave and still gives Occupational Therapy, Philosophy, Life Skills and Cognitive Therapy all at the same time.

I began to learn to think for myself, to question the world, to see that every action has a reaction; there are consequences for every decision which an individual takes. I learnt to take responsibility for myself.

Upon leaving school I did a year of drama at Natal Technikon (as it was known then), but it was strangely flat and completely uninspirational. I went on to University of KZN, Durban campus, to do a Bachelor of Arts – with drama as a supposed major.  But there again – there was no zap or zing to the drama classes and it was just a drag to attend. These lessons were nothing like my cherished times in Ida’s classes. What I did discover was Psychology, and I changed my degree to a Bachelor of Social Science with Psychology and Industrial Psychology as my majors. I let go of my drama lessons without a backward glance, knowing that they could never compare to lessons from Ida.

I now work as a secretary, and it might seem that I have not made use of my years of studying. However, I am forever thankful for my years with Ida and at University. The lessons I learnt broadened my outlook on life, making the world a more colourful and interesting place to live in.

Ida, I don’t see or talk to you as much as I would like but you are so often in my thoughts. Thank you for being the MC at the ceremony between Terry and I. Thank you for being.

Take heart dear friends and rely on Buddha – "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear".