October Mama Message
"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."
- Aristotle
We need an education of the heart more than ever these days! Working with children, I am always struck by how our young ones show us the way… if we can observe carefully enough. In the past weeks I have been fortunate to travel widely, observe carefully at several “educational” venues, and immerse myself in hands-on learning through community events and working with children. When we are fully engaged the learning just flows…
Watching healthy children live wholeheartedly into a Michaelmas puppet show last week I witnessed the magic of imagination and play unfolding. Children learn when they are inspired and we connect with their hearts. This show was a story of courage and cleverness, and the children learned valuable lessons through music, puppetry, and storytelling.
This time of year offers so many rich activities for education. Harvest festivals abound, community gatherings are returning, and even within our own families we can turn to hands-on projects of harvesting, preserving food, hand-crafting, wood working, fiber arts, fall gardening, and more. I like to use the four elements to inspire parents, and when we think of projects that include earth, air, fire, and water, the children are naturally drawn to them. Young ones of all ages can be included in different activities, and they love to help with the “real” work of their parents. No matter where you live, there are projects that you can do with your children that will engage their heads, their hearts, and their hands…
As I have been traveling in the past few weeks through seven different western states I have also observed large differences in the way adults are approaching the times that we are living in. The children however, are just being children… I believe that we can still use our heads as responsible adults, but also learn from our children and drop deeply into our hearts and our hands right now. We can appreciate each moment as it comes, live and love in the here and now, and find beauty in every aspect of our precious lives. We can play in the autumn leaves, sing together as we work and learn, and breathe deeply of the clearer fall air.
None of us knows exactly what the future will hold, but that doesn’t mean that we need to hold back from the joys of today. We have all suffered hardship and loss to different degrees throughout our lives, and especially over the past few years. We can’t change what has occurred but we can change our attitude about how we respond to it. The Michaelmas celebrations and stories are ones of overcoming obstacles, gathering strength, and fortifying ourselves for the coming darkness. Gathering together in community we can fill ourselves with good times and laughter, inspire each other for the coming winter months and challenging times, and work together as the children do… with courage, joy, play, and cooperation!
Warmly,
Maria