Arts, Environment and the Child: Walking the Wheel of the Seasons

Well today was a wonderful and fun day; we had our first class working with kids of all ages. We did a puppet workshop, I brought all the puppets I have made while at school and showed how the different ones are made and used. Then we made puppets out of household recycled items and scraps of material found around the house. We had fun creating many different kinds of puppets then we topped off the day by the children doing wonderful off the cuff little skits. We enjoyed watching and participating in the class today; I hope everyone that was there had as much fun as I did.

Tonight in class we had an interesting discussion on how the power of words affects and shape who we r as individuals, as a community and as humanity. This makes me wonder how much this shaped who I am today. The question was raised should we force a child to read before they are ready? Knowing how a child learns and grows and adapts to the surroundings what right do we have to force another human to against their own biological clock? Another question that was posed was as you learn to read what do you gain and what do you loose? I had all this on my brain when I came home, I sat down and watched a show on TV with my husband; it was a touching, courageous story of a woman that gave up her son in order to protect him from his father (who was murder of the worst sorts) and allowed herself to electrocuted for crimes she didn't do so that she could keep the secret of where her son was. Her son had been adopted by a wealthier family and didn't know about his family history and he had won a scholarship for his music. The show end with the man who tried to save the mother, ended up agreeing to let her do it her way and when she asked that he be the last face she sees as she is prepared to be put to death. I sat there and cried with my husband who was in tears as well; we held each other as we watched the end of this show with the son playing the cello beautifully with gentleman watching him with a tear streaming down his face. The show ends with him quoting "What we do for ourselves dies with us. But what we do for others and humanity is immortal" Robert Payne, truer words have never been spoken.

Well I just had the most wonderful day with my class in celebration of the Lunar New Year. I got to get dressed in my silk red dress and I filmed the wonderful Tai GI teacher we had in class today. It was fun to see most of my class doing the exercises and laughing when they were relaxed. Its amazing how self-conscious people can be when they notice they are being stared at or watched. The energy in the room was intense the hairs on the back of my arms raised up tall and I felt energized from this class and I had really enjoyable with two wonderful ladies from class. I felt a great bonding with both of them; it felt as though we became kindred spirits. Something such as this doesn’t happen very often for me; I tend to be closed about some things I don’t like sharing all the time and it was nice to feel comfortable enough with these women to open up with them a little. Thank you ladies for a memorable time.

The next day for me was filled with mixed emotions and it was such a dreary day with wind and rain, a perfect winter day just before spring arrives. To tell the truth I woke up feeling icky and gross, not wanting to leave the house, my house is my comfort. I have all my plants, art, candles and my herbs all around me; it’s my Shangri-La from the world around me. I almost didn’t leave the house, my husband had to push hard to get me out the door. Once I got there and saw the happy faces, I was a bit better, but still felt on edge. We had a great seminar on the reading and how festival change people lives and cultures if they produced by the government or developed by the people to fit the needs of their spirituality. Afterwards we had the poetry reading, which was lovely, I got some wonderful takes on the audience gauging their reactions to the words. This is what I call the Power of Words and this is what I see as a gain for us as a society.  By the end of this, I must say I am sorry; I had enough, as my ASL teacher says FINISHED!!!!!! I am the type of person that takes a lot of energy in and gives it back but after awhile it tends to be very tiring.  If you don’t all know this by now, my husband is going in this month for surgery to get his knees replaced. At the same time he is in a great deal of pain so my sleep patterns are messed up at the moment so please forgive me for any shortcomings I may have during this time. I feel like the seed trying to break loose of all the constraints I am tired of being in the rain am tired of the dark am tired of the cold. I am so ready for spring to be here so that I may burst forth from my constraints and grow like a new seedling in the sunshine.