Photo: Mommy SandyIn a less-than-subtle e-mail, my friend Annie informed me that the Breadcrumbs were getting stale and would I please get something new up NOW, please?
Sorry Annie. In a conciliatory gesture (and maybe to distract her and buy myself a little time?), I offered her a tidbit of information: The average person takes 2000 steps to cover a mile of terrain. Am I a good friend, or what?! (Hey. She actually had asked me. We were talking about pedometers.)
But that was not what she was seeking. So today’s post is written with Annie in mind. Annie has spent her life teaching young children, so she came to mind when I stumbled upon this quote from Plato: The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.
I spent the weekend playing with my niece and nephew, Katie and Andrew. (Oh. “And those people who take care of them.” as my mother dubbed the parents of her grandchildren.) They have parents who make sure they have the opportunity to play amongst lovely things. They both attended pre-school at the Children’s Museum – Andrew is still enrolled, though Katie has moved on. Sandy and I went to pick Andrew up on Friday. It was Pajama Day . . . so (because I will do almost anything to earn one of Drew’s dazzling smiles and make him giggle), I wore my pajamas under my raincoat. (Imagine my surprise when I realized that I actually had to get OUT of the car and walk WHERE PEOPLE WERE to retrieve him.) Oh well!!
And I got really lucky and was able to see Katie dance with the other girls in her dance class. What struck me especially were the free-form portions of the dance, and how each girl moved with her own unique style and sensibility. Clearly, they had a teacher like Annie . . . someone who wasn’t trying to force them into a mold. The young woman teaching them is truly helping them to use dance as a form of self-expression. And there wasn’t a child in the class who wasn’t beautiful. (Though I DO think Katie was the most beautiful. Clearly. Not that I’m a proud auntie or anything….)
These young girls had learned the same basic steps and were dancing to the same music, but no two of them moved in the same way. It was life-affirming in the best possible way. And for me, it was yet another reminder that beauty is intrinsic to each of us. I think most of us forget this fact. At some point we stop dancing our own dance and concentrate instead on watching the others and trying to move the way they move. It doesn’t work. We are all wonderful as originals but only second-rate as imitators.
May each of those little girls I saw on Friday be blessed by never losing her ability to find her own style and express it. And may those of us who have faltered find the confidence to be true to ourselves and share our own beauty with the world. Plato was on to something alright . . . but children aren't the only ones who learn best when surrounded by loveliness. And I would submit that, when we bring forth the treasures within us, we teach ourselves and one another with the most valuable educational tools of all.
Sorry Annie. In a conciliatory gesture (and maybe to distract her and buy myself a little time?), I offered her a tidbit of information: The average person takes 2000 steps to cover a mile of terrain. Am I a good friend, or what?! (Hey. She actually had asked me. We were talking about pedometers.)
But that was not what she was seeking. So today’s post is written with Annie in mind. Annie has spent her life teaching young children, so she came to mind when I stumbled upon this quote from Plato: The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.
I spent the weekend playing with my niece and nephew, Katie and Andrew. (Oh. “And those people who take care of them.” as my mother dubbed the parents of her grandchildren.) They have parents who make sure they have the opportunity to play amongst lovely things. They both attended pre-school at the Children’s Museum – Andrew is still enrolled, though Katie has moved on. Sandy and I went to pick Andrew up on Friday. It was Pajama Day . . . so (because I will do almost anything to earn one of Drew’s dazzling smiles and make him giggle), I wore my pajamas under my raincoat. (Imagine my surprise when I realized that I actually had to get OUT of the car and walk WHERE PEOPLE WERE to retrieve him.) Oh well!!
And I got really lucky and was able to see Katie dance with the other girls in her dance class. What struck me especially were the free-form portions of the dance, and how each girl moved with her own unique style and sensibility. Clearly, they had a teacher like Annie . . . someone who wasn’t trying to force them into a mold. The young woman teaching them is truly helping them to use dance as a form of self-expression. And there wasn’t a child in the class who wasn’t beautiful. (Though I DO think Katie was the most beautiful. Clearly. Not that I’m a proud auntie or anything….)
These young girls had learned the same basic steps and were dancing to the same music, but no two of them moved in the same way. It was life-affirming in the best possible way. And for me, it was yet another reminder that beauty is intrinsic to each of us. I think most of us forget this fact. At some point we stop dancing our own dance and concentrate instead on watching the others and trying to move the way they move. It doesn’t work. We are all wonderful as originals but only second-rate as imitators.
May each of those little girls I saw on Friday be blessed by never losing her ability to find her own style and express it. And may those of us who have faltered find the confidence to be true to ourselves and share our own beauty with the world. Plato was on to something alright . . . but children aren't the only ones who learn best when surrounded by loveliness. And I would submit that, when we bring forth the treasures within us, we teach ourselves and one another with the most valuable educational tools of all.
1 comments:
"Thank you, Aunt Debbie!"
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