Dan, Speaking of the need to learn things beyond conventional lessons, maybe an interview I recorded recently will reinforce your decision to pick up your previous work.
The video came about as I was talking with Nahru Lampkin [[aka The Bongo Man who performs outside Tigers and Lions games) regarding a music project we did together. He mentioned how he happened to switch from working as a school security guard to being a coach on a championship student robotics team. I asked him if he would tell this story in a video interview.
Below is a link to that interview [[if you watch first 3 min. intro, you might be drawn into the whole 25). Using traditional measures of education, Nahru would be assumed unqualified for the "new economy," yet earlier this year he went with the Detroit team to compete in Omaha and Anaheim.
While statistics indicate a daunting percentage of undereducated Detroit residents, attention needs to also be paid to utilizing and developing School of Life knowledge. Is this hidden potential a sufficient part of plans for the city's future and reducing crime? Maybe it's too late for the Islandview Village perps, but the kids in Nahru's story might make better neighbors:
https://vimeo.com/80161620