Children Are Our Teachers

 

Day 44 ~ 11/13/10

My children continue to show me the way of the world. Today, Emily came up to me after I had put a song on that I really like, and in her softest, most compassionate voice (without even trying), she puts her hands on my knees, looks straight into my eyes, and says “Mom, actually I’m a little tired of this song, could we please change it? You know, like when you get tired of my songs and want me to change them, I just don’t feel like listening to this right now.” Way to go kiddo! Although I'm not sure why, I can't seem to stop playing his music ~ check out Rafael Sotomayor "Hanging" with nature.

Wow! I know it’s so simple, but these are the things, the small, little moments that are so easy to overlook in everyday life, that when recognized, makes life feel so grand. And the days are just packed with them! Like source coming through various people, just asking to be acknowledged, to show me pieces of heaven all the time. Even with all the pain, how can I not be grateful for everything? And not a yah, that’s cool grateful, but a deep rooted gratitude for the life that just is that surrounds me.

I haven’t watched a movie in a while, it’s part of me getting over the addiction I have to being brain dead, letting someone else do all the imaginary work for me…but sometimes, it’s nice to relax as well. We watched Becoming Jane, a movie depicting the young life author Jane Austen. It was actually really good. As a picture is worth a thousand words, anything else can be viewed from many angles, just depends on where one’s perspective is coming from.

The movie is set in the latter part of 1700’s, early 1800’s, and it was a very good reminder of the emotional repression that women had to endure in this time. Being prone to arranged marriages without “Affection” (or love), where the couple in an engagement might not have a say in their marriage, especially if it was more of a financial business arrangement between the families where the children are just pawns in a game, being used for someone else’s gain. I know that this has gone on for centuries, and in a way, it is still happening.

There are many parents who sell their children to the world, and especially in the United States where fame and fortune over rule personal discrimination on a daily basis. Children are being sold into a world of glamour (beauty pageants, movies, modeling and prostitution just to name a few) without even considering the wants and emotional requirements of the child. It’s like the parents have not grown up themselves, and through their children they can have their own childhood fantasies fulfilled.

Even if a child is not sold to Hollywood, guess what? They ARE still being sold, in your home, EVERYDAY. In my home too…even though we don’t watch cable TV, we still have ads on the computer. The kids at school talk about what’s going on with TV, playdates at friends houses expose them to things I don’t. Boy scouts, Girl scouts – they sell cookies and popcorn to try to make a buck, the schools send them home with fundraising “stuff” to sell all the time, hyping them up with promises of “an extra recess” or “win a prize if you sell the most stuff”. Local sports teams sell ad space to business owners.

I’m not saying all of this is BAD, but I do believe it’s teaching our kids to sell themselves as a national pastime.  Kids stop pretending to be superhero’s at an earlier age, and get obsessed by stuff. I can barely walk into some people’s houses without stepping all over thousands of toys – in each household! REALLY? Do they really need that many toys?

AND, the reason I can say this, is because I’ve bought into it too. What do I do about it? I don’t have all the answers, but I believe recognizing it is a good start to the situation. Why do they have so much stuff? Why do WE have so much stuff? So many reasons, choose a couple and whittle it down to your own beliefs. If there was a fire in your house, what is of value to you worth saving? Start here, and get rid of all the rest of your stuff. Ask your kids to do this too, and stop buying them everything! Let them earn and show them that there’s more to life than shopping and trying to be like everyone else. Trust me, this process is liberating!

Starting Oon rahum tonight, I was immersed into vibrant sepia/golden light, I didn’t realize I was still favoring my back with it’s physical muscle strain and not giving 100% in my actions. As soon as I realized this, I dug deeper and worked through the pain, asking for whatever transfer needed to be made between Gaia and the heavens to happen. A smoother, much more embodied song belted out, and I felt like Dakar and I were actually singing in harmony.