Corners...the gift of a story...

Rock Fairy...Queen of Arts

Corners,

There were hugs, small animals, baskets full of clothes and costumes; color, shapes, signs that meant nothing at all.  Put them on, march around, crawl on the floor. Speak in a language that no one else knows. Draw a picture of something that no one has seen. 

What's your name today? Why don't we all talk backwards? What would a starfish say to a star? 

And gradually they all came to her. She was a gift to behold, the wonderment of childhood writ large upon their hearts. 

What is the secret? I asked her, as the children filed out their minds full of kaleidoscopes and pinwheels and dinosaur dreams. 

"Corners," she said. "All children need corners." 

I looked around the classroom. Small piles of stones in shoeboxes. Little worlds constructed in cubicles and cubbies. Corners.

She showed me a hidden place behind a bookshelf where one boy has strung a complex web of string and yarn, and filled it with climbing plastic men. 

If I could, I would give him an attic. But this corner is enough. 

We walked to the center of the room. A circle had been taped on the floor. "This is where we meet together," she said. "it is good for them to know that we are all part of a whole. But there," she continued, pointing to the corners, the boxes, the cubbies, is where they go to dream. Show me the corners and I will show you the child. 

I look again at Nick's bedroom, at the toys strewn across the floor. It is a world disordered, random, abandoned. 

But in the corner, under a table, pushed against the wall, a splash of color catches my eye. Curious, I make my way through the mess to get a closer look. 

There, beneath the table, he has constructed a spaceship, a wild and fanciful winged creation of plastic parts populated with dinosaurs and tiny figures. Next to it miniature plastic monkeys climb a tower made of sticks and straws. Pieces of string and ribbon connect the tower to the ship. 

Carefully, I back away, through the piles of obligations and responsibilities littering his floor. I return to the living room- the adult room- and take a seat in my chair in the center of the house. 

from a story "Corners" by Kent Nerburn-Simple Graces. 

With all our reading challenges in our homestead I remember how I would help not only my son but all of us center and prepare for the day... My son needed to be influence by books, listening and reading so it was find and dandy that I could read to him...and the reading would be added to his reading minutes. (I personally still do need to read out loud to strengthen my own reading challenges)

  Small moments of stories  are such great learning experiences that carry on long in our hearts and minds.  I've been reading Kent's books since I was sent a email for a Native American Flute maker and Musician that teaches at Dillman's Darren Thompson   His music is going to be in a movie from one of Kent Nerburns books. Well you can all read more if interested about in their sites. 

So after reading this story this morning to the family which I only shared half of it here...the mood and attitude altered and my oldest daughter heading off to work with a small changes of attitude.  I asked her to pick a rock out of the bowl...she took one off the top,  I said "no dig deeper"...and she pulled out "Balance"  I shared...what every you do today makes sure it serves you well check in and see how you can restore your own balance with whatever comes your way.  

I have to add that in Julia Camerons book the Artist Way she shares about how important it is to have a small alter for yourself... of trinket things, small mementos  and well I have to admit I've got many corners like that around the house...shinning in the child - likeness still dreaming. 

One never knows where one thing will lead to another...I love it when I pick up a crumb and see where it came from...I believe I was to be reading Kent's books...and feeding my soul with life experience through the art of storytelling. it would be cool to have a story telling night in the tipi when the warmer weather comes...