Sweet Child 'O Mine
Today's Intention: Childlike acceptance, Adult maturity.
I am about to spend my morning with approximately 16 preschoolers. Today is my day to participate at the co-op Sam attends. My original intention today was going to be patience, as I found that to be quite fitting when spending a day with children. But it all shifted as I started to think about non-dualism, a concept I am learning and trying to fully understand and integrate.
Culturally, we use the descriptions right/wrong, good/bad, like/dislike, failure/success, positive/negative so frequently, it is astounding. Don't believe me? Notice today, internally or externally, how often you hear these measurement applied. Some years back I attended Marshall Rosenberg's workshop on Non-Violent Communication. It was such an eye-opening journey into the nature of our culture to define things in these terms.
If we choose to, we can learn so much from watching children and from understanding their way of expressing their humanity. They do not live in a world of right and wrong until they are taught to. Their behavior has a single purpose: to meet their emotional needs. It is such an honest and pure way to function. Refraining from measuring our lives from a dualistic perspective, we can mature and assume a sense of personal responsibility for our needs. Moving out of childhood expressions, we develop the skills to meet these needs without harming others, with a deep understanding our interconnectedness, and with less self-serving intentions.
I am about to spend my morning with approximately 16 preschoolers. Today is my day to participate at the co-op Sam attends. My original intention today was going to be patience, as I found that to be quite fitting when spending a day with children. But it all shifted as I started to think about non-dualism, a concept I am learning and trying to fully understand and integrate.
Culturally, we use the descriptions right/wrong, good/bad, like/dislike, failure/success, positive/negative so frequently, it is astounding. Don't believe me? Notice today, internally or externally, how often you hear these measurement applied. Some years back I attended Marshall Rosenberg's workshop on Non-Violent Communication. It was such an eye-opening journey into the nature of our culture to define things in these terms.
If we choose to, we can learn so much from watching children and from understanding their way of expressing their humanity. They do not live in a world of right and wrong until they are taught to. Their behavior has a single purpose: to meet their emotional needs. It is such an honest and pure way to function. Refraining from measuring our lives from a dualistic perspective, we can mature and assume a sense of personal responsibility for our needs. Moving out of childhood expressions, we develop the skills to meet these needs without harming others, with a deep understanding our interconnectedness, and with less self-serving intentions.