I decided to try home-farming during MCO 1.0. So, I bought a bag of soil, some flower and veggie seeds from a nursery nearby. However, it didn't quite go as well as I imagined. Anyone who has tried doing so, especially for the first-timer would know it is by no means an easy feat. The right temperature, moisture air and light is needed to "wake up" the seed for germination. Even how deep the seed was planted in the soil affects the probability of success. And I won't even touch on the challenge of taking care of those tender and fragile seedlings. Much love and patience are required, no doubt!
Had Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of famous musical shows Cats and Phantom of the Opera, been born in our era, she might probably be termed as an ADHD child and put under medication to calm her down. Fortunately, she was born in 1926, a time when ADHD wasn't an accepted condition. When Gillian was 8, the school thought she had a learning disorder, was fidgety and unable to concentrate. They even wrote a letter to her parents about it. Subsequently, they went to see a specialist. After 20 minutes of listening to Mrs Lynne, the doctor told Gillian that he needed a private discussion with her mother outside the room. As they were leaving, the doctor turned on the radio that was sitting on his desk. Then, the doctor and Mrs Lynne watched her through the office door that was ajar. Soon, Gillian began to move and dance to music from the radio. At that moment, the doctor told Mrs Lynne that her daughter wasn't sick. Instead, she was a dancer and suggested that she attends a dance school. She did and years later in the words of Gillian, "I can't tell you how wonderful it was. We walked into a room that is full of people like me. People who couldn't sit still, people who had to move to think". That marked the beginning of her marvellous journey in the world of dance & performance.
What on earth does Gillian's story get to do with me planting a seed? The key is "environment". Gillian flourished when placed in the right environment, much like the seed. No amount of telling, teaching or training would make any difference if the environment wasn't right. It might even stifle or prematurely kill the talent and potential. Imagine watering and fertilizing a seed that is on parched land. What difference would it make? I believe we can never add anything more than what is already in-built in our child, the unique God-given potential & talent. Our responsibilities as parents are to help to discover and nurture these potentials. Any other skills should be the tools to express them.
Stop looking at the output and performance for a while and focus on our children. Are we placing them in the right environment so they may flourish? Do we take time to observe and understand them? Or are we being careless by placing them in the one size fit all system and hope for the best?
#HappyParenting #BetterOurselves