Fair warning minirant ahead.....
Daily
Dose - "It's over when it's over. No matter how much you want the
process to be over, the end occurs when every single step has been
taken. Each step has relevance. Each step has meaning. Each step
potentially has pain. Each step is one step closer to your goal.
Remember the only way to reach your dream is to take every step. No
more, no less. Moving? OOUUTT"
PTSD once was called 'a soldier's problem.' Soldier's that suffered were ignored at best and ridiculed at worst...finally it was recognized as real response to horrifying events. I get a lot of connects to military web pages and information. Only, I was never in the military. I respect those that choose that route. I joked that I was raised in America's war zone. My son lived in Washington DC for a few years. I did the research and the death rate per capita is higher there than in Iraq. People post cutesy little posts about all the stuff they did when they were kids and they don't have any problems. Great dandy....I know plenty of kids that didn't survive the 'boys will be boys' beat the hell out of each other, unchecked bullying, hiding under the desk for air raid practice. I fully understand why we need to worry less about teaching the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic and require things like art, non-violent communication, how to negotiate, and human rights. Kids in the United States and other 'free' countries know exactly what the term 'human trafficing' means. There are people in 'free' countries that are treated as slaves by their parents or others that should protect them. Do a little research and you will learn the horrors of modern day slave trade, sweat houses, and brothels. Some dream to have enough to eat....Some dream to feel safe....some dream to feel they belong....some dream to walk in the sunshine unafraid. The process of escaping from the underbelly of ugliness trying to crush a person is one step after another. Too many sit back waiting to be saved. Too many give up. Too many become one of the ones that they hate the most. Too many use drugs/alcohol as an escape hatch to another hell. A hell that is recognized for what it is. I was told how lucky I was to have such an easy childhood....I trade my nightmares for theirs any day. Stepping away from ugliness, walking away from horror is done one baby step at a time. Every step away makes that much more of a difference. Struggling upwards takes tremendous effort. Some days just trying not to sink lower is a good day. I still remember the substitute teacher bursting into the teacher's lounge saying he was still breathing. I smiled and agreed, "Breathing is good." He stopped as if a chained held him. He looked at me and replied...."Breathing is good." Breathing, moving, each step counts. To dream, believe in a future that is better than the past, to hope for a place to grow....a common thread to human living. Move OUT....head for a dream....even if it is in itsy bitsy baby steps.
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| For the caterpillar, the cocoon was the end of his world. |
2 comments:
"I fully understand why we need to worry less about teaching the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic and require things like art, non-violent communication, how to negotiate, and human rights."
One of the mistakes the US education system (and many people unrelated to the education system, as well) makes is that we think these things are SEPARATE. We think it's an either/or situation. Teach the "three Rs" OR teach kindness, communication, awareness of world events, etc. We can - and should - do BOTH. Literacy isn't separate from life.
I know a kindergarten where last year, students were very interested in the connections that people have with each other. They explored this through discussion and creating sculpture that showed their ideas about human connection (the kids themselves came up with these things), and then the kids wanted to share kindness with other people in their school, and decided that one way to do this was to create signs with positive messages on them. The teachers supported them with the literacy aspect of the sign-making. And so they were working on community connection at the same time as they were learning how to read and write.
It takes really healthy, open-minded, educated adults to support kids in this way. I dream of a day when all students have adults like this available to them. Our world will take huge strides forward when that happens.
Very Cool, thank you for sharing.
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