(Saul Steinberg: Family)
Let us make the picture smaller: our children as the important ones So how to make clear: What is it, the purpose thing? And how do you get them towards that what and where? Educate? Show? Stimulate? Focusing attention? Being the example…Modeling? Motivate? Making them aware? Indoctrinate? To love…! In Wikipedia: Education in the largest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. Ergo : it is time that we acknowledge that the world is new every day. Is it about facts or our relationships towards things and people? There is not so much wrong in passing on habits, thoughts and behaviors.. but in this process of modeling often some ‘nasty’ habits drop in. (how often do we hear:’ Ohh, when I look at my child it is like looking in a mirror!’ …’What is your focus?’, I would like to ask) So that is where the ‘know yourself’ drops in. but we never (seldom) see the lies that we believe. And I must say some have nasty habits. So they talk about educating ‘their’ children… as a sort of self growth thing. Life is bigger I might add. Take the divorce thing. A popular act nowadays. Not really the exception anymore. Funny (not so funny for the child) things happen there. People do the ‘ownership’ act around there children. Watch it that is a wide spread virus when people divorce (and so be it, that cannot be the issue any more.. but it becomes that way if 1 of the 2 parents does not stimulate to love both in equal -time, space and attention- way). Suddenly one of the 2 claims to ‘know’ what is good for a child; takes ownership and determines everything that is ‘good’ for the child. The child is ‘used’ as an example. We all are children. We are not divorced but we are the world, with all our differences. Do not turn sameness into a rule. So a few thoughts: • You never own a child • Be the example in what you leave behind • The purpose is to serve and make happy • Realize: What you know is temporally the truth, and mostly only your truth • Be humble: There is much more to experience and know than you think • Never be obsessive about educating a child or a human being, for content is context dependent and we need a context for expressing the behavior in our own time • The most important things in life cannot be expressed in words • What you perceive with your ‘senses’ and your ‘intuition’ is what YOU perceive • Love and embrace differences • Respect for everything that is • My call for poetry and being the warm inspiration celibrate what is and be thankful
