Last week I wrote that, after exploring further into the “world within” to rewrite my Definite Major Purpose (the reason I’m here on the planet – this time), I was able to articulate something that truly resonated and inspired me. I still struggled with the “sacrifice” part – and received some great suggestions – thanks all!! Glad to say I’ve been able to put into positive words the things I need to downsize from my life in order to move more efficiently forward.
We’ve also been making “links” or connections this week between what we are reading in both the Master Keys and the Greatest Salesman by Mandino and things all around us … the “world without”. Little did I know that I was going to find a connection to something that had peppered the last 30 years of my teaching career.
As an elementary school art teacher, I used to regularly tell my “kids” that there were TWO WORLDS IN THE ART ROOM – TWO “LANDS” … THE LAND OF THE SILLY AND THE LAND OF THE SERIOUS. In the land of the SILLY, it was colorful, tasty, musical, fabulous – the place where we found all our ideas, imagined wonderful art, created and played and – you get the idea. In the land of the SERIOUS, we created our artwork, used scissors responsibly, treated each other and their works respectfully, listened to instructions and rules, interacted in the “real” world. As their teacher it was my privilege to lead them into the Land of the SILLY where we could be anything we wanted to be. It was also my job to be sure that they were SAFE, because the land of the SILLY could very easily (especially for a room full of 2nd or 3rd graders) turn into the land of the CRAZY. So, if THAT happened, I had to take them back to the land of the SERIOUS (which was NOT so fun sometimes).
The light bulb moment for me this week was that the kids and I had been gloriously exploring the world within all that time and having a BLAST! Then, we were able to bring that enlightenment out into the world without – and, in our case, create physical ARTISTIC manifestations of what we had already discovered within. Equally cool.
I wonder how many of my thousands of students over the years remember the Land of the Silly and the Land of the Serious …
I love what you shared! The world of Silly……hmmm. No wonder I got better at art after doing the last MKMMA! I knew how to go not just into the world of silly and enjoyment, but into the unseen world within! Thank you also for the glimpse into the mind of an art teacher! 😉
LOVE IT! What a wonderful story! A teacher effects so many lives…I remember all my favorites!