This morning I noticed the same child’s school worksheet that I’d seen several times on our morning walk. No one claimed it. So, I took it home today. The worksheet involves fine motor skills of cutting and pasting printed boxes and practicing sequencing skills.
It's interesting to view this worksheet at several levels:
A. What does it demonstrate about education?
B. If it were to be found 1000 years from now, what would it seem to suggest about our civilization?
C. What could this worksheet teach me or perhaps you from a personal perspective?
Here’s some revelations I had from this worksheet from these varying levels of analysis:
1. What I like is the poetic irony that this child’s worksheet lost the beginning and ending plot sections. Life’s beginnings and endings are often mysterious. Many decisions we make are a bit mysterious too. Maybe some have no beginning or end?
2. Attitude and perspective inform our outlook. From a scientific perspective, it’s inaccurate to say that “The sun went away.” It might have been more accurate to say: “The clouds cover the sun” or “A storm arrives.” But then I thought about how I feel spiritually or emotionally some days. That something bright and luminous left, became inaccessible. Could be optimism or God or one’s Inner Light or… But the truth is did the sun leave or did it just get covered for a time?
3. The environment (weather) outside affects what we can or want to do in a day (go inside/outside). We all work within and with limitations. I tend to blame myself even for things beyond my control sometimes. I also tend to attribute certain negative feelings to limitations, but it would do me well to see them more often as opportunities for growth, change, connection, or more.
4. The connection between outside and play. I need to explore this idea of play outside more. The idea of play being a collective group activity as well. I am adept at playing with art indoors and on my own. But I need to grow more through collective play with others. How could that inform my spiritual life?
5. Explore what the concept of play means to you. What could it mean to others you know? How could play become something more for you? Does play teach you, how? Does play change you, how?
6. The border of squiggly connected lines is curious too. The flow of the line starts and stops at times. Is it a subtle way to introduce cursive? Spending time with lines can be meditative for me.
Next blog post? The other side of this worksheet. Stay tuned!
