One of these children will grow up to be
brilliant. The rest already are.
Actually, all the children are brilliant just by being the great hearts they are. The greater part of 'education' is to keep the fire alive in all children, to not define slowness as stupidity, but rather as carefulness and care in learning... to not define subject preferences as a child being one-sided, but as the talent of focus that will be guided to greater and good uses.
At least half the failure of children in any education system can be laid directly at the feet of those who douse the child's early creativity, explorations, veerings, obsessions, eccentricities.
That they survive us who know so much about much, and sometimes remember so little about the wingspread of a child.
Let us Bless all creatures great and small... and Spread the word.
Extracted from
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes' facebook page - it really is an inspirational platform - go and have a look!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember sourcing poems for my Grade 9s when I left teaching. I found them the other day, and thought it fitting to share them here too.
The Guy In The Glass..
When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.
For it isn't your Father or Mother or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.
- Dale Wimbrow.
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace
there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all
persons. Speak your truth
quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant,
they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are
vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and
bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your
plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real
possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let
this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons
strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about
love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully
surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in
sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many
fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a
child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right
to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is
unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep
peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a
beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not
our darkness, that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?...
Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about
shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant
to shine, as children do... It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And
as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence
automatically liberates others.
- extract from the book A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
If...
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with
Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at
your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
and my absolute favourite:
Success:
To laugh
often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of
children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of
false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the
world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed
social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have
lived; this is to have succeeded."
-
RalphWaldoEmerson
You've got me in tears now Casey... the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling is very special to me personally. Was great to find it on your blog <3
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely one of my favourites too! x
Delete