When You Don't Know What to Say: Smack Dab in the Classroom by Dia Calhoun

What do you say to kids when there is so much trouble in the world, and at home? What books do you hand them to read that might speak to this? I think of the traditional hero stories where one individual can change the world by fighting the darkness. The character Will in Susan Cooper's The Darkness Rising. Frodo in The Lord of the Rings.. But most of all right now, I think of Ged, in The Wizard of Earthsea.

Through an act of great hubris, Ged released a shadow into the world. To catch and put the shadow back Ged worked to discover the shadow's name.Naming a thing gives one power over it. But Ged couldn't find the name.  Only when he realized the shadow was his own, could he name it: Ged. And integrate it back into himself.

We all tend to project our own shadows--the dark, repressed, unacceptable parts of ourselves, thoughts or emotions--onto others. And are blind to it in ourselves. Countries and cultures and religions have shadows, too. They project these onto cultures or people who are different. They become "the evil," or the cause of all the bad things happening.

In my opinion, in our recent presidential election in the United States, we have chosen to be led by the collective shadow of our country.

So what do we say to kids when there is so much trouble in the world and at home? Let's start by looking closely at our own shadows so we can own them and name them. Then we'll be less likely to project them onto other people or groups. This examination is a heroic act. One individual can change the world if she begins by fighting the darkness in herself.

And be sure to hand the kids, The Wizard of Earthsea.

Wishing you joy,
Dia

Comments

  1. For 2020, Seiko replica watches has released a new high-end homage to its original “Tuna” dive watches that were originally released in the 1970s. In fact, there is a slew of new Prospex replica watches uk Tuna watches for 2020, but this particular Seiko Prospex Tuna fake rolex S23631, in my opinion, will be of particular interest to enthusiasts seeking something cool-looking, comfortable, and highly evocative of the original replica rolex Seiko Tuna watches. The Tuna itself was originally released in 1975 as a mechanical watch, and then, a fake watches few years later, Seiko added quartz movement versions of its now iconic diver’s watch design. At the rolex replica time, quartz was the movement technology everybody wanted, and with its focus on utility, this “tuna-can-looking” professional diver’s watch fake rolex uk started its long journey into the hearts of enthusiasts.
    Seiko has never shied away from rendering the fake watches uk Prospex Tuna in so many different variants that it can easily boggle the mind to consider all the directions Seiko has gone with the collection. That makes it very challenging Rolex replica to compare one Seiko Tuna to another. In my opinion, people interested in a Seiko Tuna watch need fake Rolex to first consider two questions. The first question is what size they want the case to be, and the second question is which movement they want fake Hublot inside the Tuna.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment