Posts filed under education

What is school

Watching the past times brought back to life, watching the kids dressed up like in the old times... I wonder who loved learning more...

Is going to school nowadays a privilege or burden? Is it a joy or a modern torture?

Do we cherish the gift of learning or not?

School is so much more than just a school. It is a box of knowledge, mystery, excitement, interesting stories that can help us grow, full of teachers as role models, school-friends as social network to challenge our emotions and believes, pleasant or unpleasant environment, noisy and calming moments, freedom and limitations. 

School is so much more than it was years ago, but we get stuck focusing on little things and get lost before noticing how many oportunities we can find in school for learning and experiencing great lessons for life.

How about if we start this school-year differently? Let's step back, learn from the past and look at the school from a distance to see the whole picture, to see the greater meaning of school - all of us: the kids, the teachers and the parents.

Enjoy the journey and keep calm!

Who we are

We said goodbye to winter and now it's time to start a new journey, it's time to grow. New adventures are waiting for us, new opportunities to bloom. Which pathway will you choose? Where will you go?

Climbing the mountains is one way of doing it. But it depends how we do it or why. Some do it to be on the top and enjoy the wonderful views. Some want to feel every muscle of their body and sweat all the poison out. Some want to be higher than everyone else. Some people want to escape from everyday life for a few hours. The others want to be closer to heaven.

But at the end we are who we are. On the mountain, under the sea, in our bedroom, at work, on vacation... - the luggage we carry with us all the time is 'us'. The bags can be heavy or light - whatever we choose to take on our journey.

This winter I learned to simplify my life and leave most of my bags at home. It was not easy as I like a comfortable life, but some wise words from the people I admire helped. Today I'm sharing one of them - my favourite, inspiring and beautiful talks that might help you change the way you see yourself and the others.

And now ask yourself who you are, what are you thinking about - about you, the others, the world. What kind of 'bags' do you carry with you and do you really need them?

It's spring. Nature is waking up, everything is alive and fresh and ready to grow. I think it's time we grow, too.

I'm looking forward to see you bloom!

Obsessed

Today is a day when we put everything in kids' hands here. What a day! Great excitement, laughter, jostling, running here and there, not a second in stillness.

It is interesting to observe how with putting on a costume and mask something new wakes up inside of the kids. Even the most calm and dreamy kids become wild and can't control themselves anymore.

At drama therapy they 'play' with different personalities most of the time, but at art therapy we try to collect information at the events like this one. Everything develops in a great speed, so it is a hard work as we need to be careful to stay focused and not to get soaked into the tornado too.

If you have problems with your kids, it's a good day today to observe them from a different perspective and see what else is hiding inside them. But you have to be careful to not be fooled by the mask's surface. Don't focus on its surface, instead observe, what the mask brings out of your child's personality.

It is a difficult task, I know, but it's worth it. However, don't forget to have fun today as well, laugh a lot and be creative. Let it be a day of new realizations. Enjoy!

Against it? Really?

Think again!

Life is the best school we’ve got to go to, I think. Lessons we learn are there for us exactly when we’re ready to deal with their message. Even when we sometimes think we can’t handle them, we always survive, right?

Mother Teresa once said (something like): 'I’m not against the war. I’m for peace.' At first they were just simple words for me, but later I thought I’d put more focus on those words and tried to understand why she chose to say them the way she did.

It’s all about energy, I believe. In whatever you put your energy, you will get a result. Actions are energy, words are energy, thoughts are energy. And if the energy is really strong, it becomes passion.
And now, think about what you’re passionate about. Are you for something or against something?
I stopped investing my energy into things I was against, when I saw my colleague passionately and with flame fighting a man whom he really hated. Criticizing him, proving what the man did wrong, focusing on the life of that man he didn’t like… in such a passionate way, that I thought he will explode (or get a heart-attack). And then I noticed that his passion against that man was as strong as of all those people who were for that man, believing he did everything right. They were on the opposite sides, but the power of their energies was the same. That’s when I started to understand Mother Teresa’s wise words and chose to put my energy into the things I wanted.

Of course, I still don’t want war, but I don’t give her power (energy) to help 'her' keep alive. Instead, I put doubled energy into actions, people and things that spread and grow peace, harmony.
You might still argue with me about this; but if you’re honest and you’re willing to evaluate one of your days, a single ordinary day of your life and answer this question: 'How much time and energy you invest in things you (would) like to see more in your life, and how much you invest into the things you are against?' Honestly? Now you probably understand what I want to say with this post. If you’re tired, empty, angry, upset, bored…, then you know where your energy went. Probably into fighting all the things you don’t want in your life. Think about it!

So, at the beginning of a new school year, I’d like to say to all the teachers and to all kids and their parents: stop fighting these silly battles 'against something', and rather focus on what you want to see (more of). Make a vision board if you’re visual, choose books that inspire you with positive (re)actions, find those potentials in people in which you want to invest your energy in. Live life and focus your energy into everything you want to see more of, in the classroom, too!

Imagine what seven billion humans could accomplish if we all loved and respected each other. Imagine. (A.D.Williams – Inside the Divine Pattern)

Utopia? Really? Think again!

And let this be the best school year for you ever! All the best from our creative Lab!   

Never too late

There are some days when I wonder who holds my life in his/her hands... Is it really me, just me? Or is there something beyond my power, beyond my knowledge?

Sometimes my path brings me to the places I didn't want to go. Should I say thank you or complain? Should I stop there or continue my journey? I wish somebody would wisper the answer to my ear...

But I am grateful for my life. I found my place on Earth, where I can spread my love to Mother Nature, where my heart is full of joy when watching the sky, listening to water symphonies, and where the mountains protect you from evil.

One thing I know: if I was younger and braver, I would dedicate my life to Mother Nature and photography. I would want to be part of Yann Arthus Bertrand's team, educate young children how to take care of our planet, tell stories with pictures, heal ourselves with nature and pictures.
I still can't believe it how many children (and adults) don't know how to recycle or do other little steps to protect our planet, our environment, ourselves. We are all connected! We are One! (Maybe this magnificant video can explain what I mean:)

I wish they'd teach me in school how to live on planet Earth to keep its balance. I wish that at history lessons I wouldn't hear about us, humans, like we are the only living beings on the Earth - the history is not only ours... The history goes beyond us. I wish that at biology lessons I would learn how to touch a living creature to not hurt it, destroy it. How to take care of it, understand why it is there, its mission, its story - not because of us, but next to us... Everything is linked, everything is connected.

It is not too late to set ourselves free from our daily unimportant stories, written in our daily newspapers, on TV screens, on the radio. We can focus our 'cameras' onto the things that are important, important for us and important for our planet.  Set yourself free from your stories!

Balance yourself, be you (the person who lives in your heart), let the Earth and Universe inspire you to live a life above the games people play to avoid responsibilities and to pretend there's nothing to be done.

Set yourself free, - it is not too late, and listen to the Mother Earth. She has a lot to say...