the soul of the beholder
Darlene took this photo in my studio the other day and i quite love it ~ it makes me smile for the light and twinkles and nifty yellow warmth. Today I cleaned up said studio as it was getting awfully messy with piles of books and records stacked on the table, floor and chairs. Not to mention all the crumpled up papers under my desk and various scattered mugs of coffee and tea consumed at odd hours of the night when smitten with my writing fits. It felt so good to clean my studio since I put on music and brought up a tray of chocolate biscuits and set about returning the room to a pleasing sense of order (all ready to be messed up again sooner rather than later but nevermind)
However I am not in my studio now. I am in my livingroom with a cozy fire and cup of homemade chai listening to the rain pattering outside in my garden. And thinking. Thinking once again of my grade seven’s I am teaching a photography class to. Oh, you will love this. This week we talked about love and beauty. I asked which they wished to discuss fist and they all shouted ‘LOVE!!!” We chatted about how deeply personal love was, so abstract and complex and difficult to define, we talked about romantic love, platonic love and spiritual love and how you will find it everywhere in art, music, dance, photography etc. We discussed deep tenderness and emotional closeness and how love makes you feel so great by the happiness of another. And then. A very sweet boy put up his hand and said ‘And there is self love too.’ “Self love” I responded “Oh yes, and why is this important?” And he said “Because if you don’t love yourself how can you really love anyone else?” And then another boy put up his hand and chimed in….”You know when I do things that make me happy for myself then suddenly I am all filled up with joy and I want to go share that with everyone ~ it makes me feel like I have more love to share and I am just bursting with it.”
And well, I have to tell you it didn’t stop there. Discussing beauty later we chatted about inside beauty and outside beauty, feelings of inferiority through perceptual experience of attractiveness ~ I showed them this film and then asked them if they could give examples of inside beauty. A boy put up his hand and said “Have you seen the film Forest Gump? Well, he really wasn’t that good looking of a man but he was SOOOO kind and soooo gentle and funny and inside he was a very special attractive person. Everyone responded to him even the beautiful girl in the film.”
And then it really hit me ~ children KNOW ~ children are born KNOWING and who am I to believe I am teaching what was seeded in their soul’s from the beginning? I am not here to teach ….just to remind…to keep the faith and and hope alive in our world that it is true and beautiful and worth trusting and illuminating in self expression. Children always have their arms wide open….they remind me how easy it is to connect with one another and how far we are capable of reaching out to each other.
I am so so so SO grateful for every moment I get to share with these kids!
sweetness… and love…
category: my favorite posts, open to exposure, photography, uncategorized | | 20 comments »
February 11th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
yes yes yes maddie.
oh how i love every word. thank you for sharing these glimpses of honest, real truth from your students.
(i just want to reach through the screen and hug you.)
February 11th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
i feel so much hope for our future when you tell of grade seven boys responding like this! that can be such an awkward age, but these children are open and thoughtful about their feelings and it’s so very inspiring! thanks to you for creating an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement for them. your positive, sunny, and cheerful outlook reaches out to many.
February 12th, 2010 at 3:29 am
This is what I love about children, their innocence and ability to see life in its purity.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:06 am
Absolutely wonderful.
February 12th, 2010 at 7:38 am
What a beautiful group of kids. I believe many of them will remember these discussions for the rest of their lives!
February 12th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Oh my god Maddie…yes, yes,yes!!! And how perfect that I find this on a rare morning where I feel I have fallen down, and am trying to get back up…
Thank you for reminding me, for I am surrounded by the wonder of children everyday…allday…and sometimes I forget to see.xo
February 12th, 2010 at 10:25 am
celeste ~ can’t wait to visit you this spring and also have
you come visit my home with the girl’s retreat:)
February 12th, 2010 at 10:30 am
oh thank you for sharing this beauty with us. grade seven boys? how lucky they are, and how lucky you are, that you have all found each other!
makes my heart feel even warmer this morning
February 12th, 2010 at 10:50 am
This is absolutely beautiful! What a special discussion you got to share with these children!
February 12th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
i absolutely love this post. i had a similar experience last night where i volunteer, with a 17 year old boy…so much wisdom in so few years. it is truly amazing.
February 12th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Oh my. I read this and hope that it isn’t just YOUR wonderful group of 7th graders, that they are all still that way, just no one aking them out loud so they have no chance to respond. How wonderful to think! My niece is this age – she turned 13 at the end of January and I have not given her a gift yet – she says she has all she wants, all she needs, and yet (I think to myself) you don’t have an iPod, you don’t have this, you don’t have that, but she has books and self-love and curls and a cat and a dog and really, what else is there? Yes, yes. This is perfect!
February 12th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Oh Maddie, it sounds like you’ve found another (why just have one?) calling: to be a teacher. No doubt your students adore you. You are able to see and encourage the best in others. I like how you think that your job is to remind the students. You’re a good teacher, too!
February 13th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Hello! reading this fills my soul with hope & thoughtful moments
hope you & your loved ones have a happy valentines day!!! precious wishes
…& i was watching the newest rambo & the lead girl reminded me of how i imagine you, in looks & courageous & full of hope for others. even the cinematograohy was beautiful & reminded me of your photography!
February 13th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
That just warms my heart! Children are the wisest people on this earth…we need to listen to them a little more.
February 14th, 2010 at 7:29 am
Sounds like this is a dream class to teach. I love it when children open up and reveal what they’re thinking. Often, they’re wise beyond their years. xoxox
February 14th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Here it is Valentine’s Day and I had to stop by and wish you a great one.
a wish from me:
On this day, may you know, really know how much you are loved. May you recognize love in all it’s forms. May you be grateful for the love of children and pets, old friendships and new. May your heart swell with all the beauty this life brings. Happy Valentine’s Day, my friend.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:52 am
What a lovely reminder. Thank you.
Warm wishes to you,
Stephanie : )
February 16th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
This just warms my heart. Thank you for sharing it. I hope they never forget this wisdom.
February 19th, 2010 at 9:18 am
What a wonderful thing to be able to teach a class like that…this is no ordinary photography class. Not when someone like you, so full of love and good things is teaching. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during that beautiful conversation.
February 21st, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Oh, what you said about children already KNOWing and your job being simply to remind, inspire, draw out and facilitate their experiencing and expressing that knowing strikes such a beautiful chord of truth! I found your blog through Soulemama–one of the many gifts she gives is sharing other inspiring women with her readers!