My niece Eva L Becker is a healing influence in my soul life.
When I graduated from California State University, Northridge In 1972, my life was in turmoil.
I had two majors. One was English and one journalism. I had an illustrious college career that was seven years long, with many profound highlights.
I was nearly student body president at Los Angeles Valley College in 1967. Thank God I came in second In a runoff of five and did not win. I never knew Roberts Rules of Order and would have been a terrible meeting facilitator. As commissioner of men’s athletics I was a dynamo, and heading the rally committee that chose the cheerleaders was my forte. My girlfriend in the early days of college, who I met when she tried out for mascot, thought I was primed to be The POTUS.
In a year at UCLA that followed, I did poorly as an English major, but my past life gifts as one of the World’s greatest male writers worked in my favor. The other students, who entered as freshmen, had a skill level beyond my junior college training. Arthritis was already a factor and I was already periodically on crutches.
In spite of poor grades, the head of the English department befriended me. The only class where I excelled was American Literature during the time of Thoreau. He liked a paper I wrote, my explication of the friendship between a wild mouse and Thoreau in “Walden.” I was given special library privileges to spend time in the honor students’ library where Shakespeare, Marlowe and I got acquainted once again.
Student activism was my forte at UCLA, and pharmaceuticals helped me get off crutches. I spend some time working in Watts for a community group. I was the token white in the Watts parade, and thrilled to ride on top of a fire engine.
Switching to Northridge, DeWayne Johnson, then faculty president took me underwing, and this editor for the LA Times praised my photography and helped me hone my skills. It was Dewayne who announced to me that I had placed nationally in the Hearst writing competition. He made that announcement while I was at a station outside the cafeteria. I was helping organize student protests against the War in Cambodia and the death of students at Kent State. We shut the campus down and students got credit for attending class that semester, even though we were on strike. One of my activities, standing up against racism, indelibly marked the imagination of Bob Baker, who 20 years later began a LA Times Magazine article saying. “I've been waiting half my life to tell somebody about Leslie Goldman. Always figured I'd wait for some desperate moment. Now it's here.”
At Cal State Northridge, I organized numbers of projects including a club in support of the Native American Sioux (Lakota) people.
I thought I would graduate and become a famed journalist, but wanted a teaching credential because I knew that one day I would return to guide students in the classroom.
Student teaching was my Achilles Heel. I got tossed out of the program a few weeks before I would get my credential. My advisor showed up and watched me lose control of the 16 year olds. I was at a loss.
I tried to get a job in journalism. In spite of my feature writing gifts, and experience doing an internship at the @San Fernando Sun—where I was editor during the Earthquake of February 1971–The only job I could get was in the darkroom at a Thousand Oaks paper. And my worst photo skills were in the darkroom! I was fired for being too slow. At the same time, my arthritis was kicking in.
The truth is, arthritis turned out to be a Godsend.
The only opportunity that came my way was to work with Dr. Bernard Jensen, an elder of the natural healing arts. I was meant to meet him. I would have never met him if I had not been in pain. He needed me, as well. It was my meeting with Dr Bernard Jensen that moved me out of LA as well as exposed me to nature and the masters of health he had known. He referred to himself as a Nature Boy. I was to follow in his footsteps as far as being trained in what I call “Nature’s Original Technology.”
Fast forward decades. Adrienne Prince and I just did a presentation at my niece Eva’s Physiology classroom at Hamilton High School school during our visit to LA, October 6-8, 2018.
It’s been a number of years since I’d been to Eva’s classroom. One wall is still loaded with ##EnchantedGardenClub paraphernalia! We did the #PlantYourDream experience with youth.
I started to visit Eva’s classroom around 2011. She introduced me as “Uncle Leslie,” and so the kids began to call me Uncle Leslie too. I became sort of a school celebrity. Kids wrote me the most endearing notes after each session.
The pain of lost dreams, the dream I would enter the classroom some day, were fulfilled thanks to my niece Eva.
Here are a few reflections we got following our recent guest appearance October 8, 2018.
“Thank you so much for showing me and inspiring me to be the best version of myself every day! I appreciated the planting activity as it showed me how quickly my dreams can grow. I will cherish this moment forever. Thank you again for the seeds and opening my mind up to an abundant future.❤️”
—LS, 16 years old.
“Honestly I loved the presentation. It was very insightful and made me feel hopeful for my future. I’m definitely gonna Plant these seeds. I can’t wait for my dreams to grow and become a reality just as the plant does. I will also take into consideration the foods I eat.😊”
—A
“This was an extremely rewarding experience. My friends and I recorded the planting act so one day we can look back at this when our dreams do come true. Thank you so much for the unforgettable advice. This has opened me up to new possibilities of life and I look forward to seeing my life blossom.”
-A
“Overall this was an amazing and inspiring experience. This presentation helped open my eyes and reflect on what I want to do. I have to make sure to watch what I eat and really take care of myself. I will try to shop at the Farmers’ market from now on. Thank you for your sweet time.”
—B