Bday Reflections I: The Time Has Come the Walrus Said

In undergrad I had an 8:00 AM class. Now, you know 8:00 AM classes in college are always so hard to get to especially if you’ve been out partying the night before. The professor of this class would arrive however, at 8:15 AM. He was always disheveled carrying a whole lot of unnecessary things in his hands, except the Venti Starbucks coffee cup. That coffee, was definitely an essential item to be carrying. The class would generally arrive before he did. If you were later than he was, he wouldn’t let you in class.

He’d enter the room and wouldn’t speak. He’d walk in, brush past us, leaving a scent of amber musk, menthol, and coffee in the air. He’d put his stuff down on the desk with his back facing the class and take what seemingly was the longest sip of his coffee. Savoring it. I always wondered what his Starbucks order was? You can tell a lot about a person based on their Starbucks order. After he was done, he cleared his throat as if he was starting his internal engine. He’d then turn around and say to the class, 

“The time has come the Walrus said...” 

This is a line from the peculiar poem The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll. In fact, Tweedledum and Tweedledee recite the poem to Alice in the Through the Looking Glass novel. The poem tells the story of the complacent Walrus and a featherbrained Carpenter who trick a group of oysters to come on a walk with them only to eat them. Throughout my scholastic journey I’ve encountered this poem quite a bit actually. Lots of acting teachers use it as a tongue twister during speech and voice warm ups. But this was a Peace Studies course. Yes, I’d argue I went to one of the best liberal arts colleges in the world. Peace Studies? Please and thank you! I enjoyed this class and even managed to secure an A. Mind you, this was in the middle of a Chicago winter where staying in bed at 8 AM instead of bearing the cold would've been highly preferred. But I pushed through the grueling Lake Michigan winds to sit in class and talk about the concept of peace in a world that is not peaceful.

I understood later on that the professor would arrive late because he knew 8:00 AM was hard for students. So, he gave us a 15 minute grace period to get there. Actually, more like 25 because by the time he finished sipping his coffee and revved up his internal engine with his back to the class, students were able to sneak in before he started.

I finished the class however, having no clarity as to why he would start each class by saying, “the time has come the walrus said...”

 

The entire line in the poem reads:

 

The time has come the walrus said

To talk of many things

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax

Of cabbages and kings

Of why the sea is boiling hot

and weather pigs have wings

 

The Walrus says this to the oysters right before they realize they are going to be eaten. This poem is chaotic lunacy. The sun and the moon are shining at the same time, oysters can walk and wear shoes, and not to mention a talking Walrus is friends with a human. The real absurdity of it all however, is that 20 years later and 3 days before my 38th birthday I am up at 8:00 AM thinking about why my Peace Studies professor started each lesson with that quote? Welcome to my anxious brain.

Today, 20 years later and 3 days before my 38th birthday, I think I get it. The absurdities in this world are plentiful just like this poem. But the action word is “talk.” Communication is by far the most important yet hardest things for people to master. I know firsthand, that’s why I started blogging. I often suck at verbalizing how I feel when talking. Writing is my best form of communication. My comfort zone. Conversations can be hard and sometimes full of tension and discord. I opt out of that more than not and when I finally do speak, I’m exploding because I’ve held it in for so long. I recognize the choice to table hard conversations and letting sentiments fester is self-inflicted abuse that I must stop.

 

The time has come to talk of many things.

 

My professor was right.

 

You can’t grow, learn, change, heal, and be at peace if you don’t talk about the absurdities ailing you. 

 

During this new year around the sun, I am committing myself to working on improving my verbal communication. Coming out of my comfort zone of just writing about it and transitioning into also talking about it.

You with me?

 

Let’s do it together!