June 15, 2024

Quote of the Week

"I think to truly feel whole -- it is not about acquiring something that we do not have. It is about remembering who we fundamentally are." -- Vivek Murthy

Wholeness Before Happiness

By Dr Sue Roffey

"Recently I gave a talk to parents about the building blocks of resilience and what they could do at home.

I began by saying that in common with most parents when I first held my new-born in my arms I was overwhelmed with feelings of love and protection. I looked down at the sleeping baby and whispered, “I want you to be happy, I will do everything I can to make you happy."

My daughter is now a grown woman and I know now that this wish was not only futile, but also risked overlooking what really mattered. What my child needed was to learn how to be whole, not happy.

Life does not run smoothly, all of us have struggles from time to time, and we all need to have strategies on hand to cope well with these. How do we put ourselves back together when things are falling apart?

When children have and learn these building blocks of resilience, reinforced throughout their childhood, they have more chance of being and staying whole. It is only then that real happiness can flourish. [...]

When things get tough for children, as they inevitably will do from time to time, we need to take what is happening for them seriously and validate how they feel, not try and cheer them up or tell them to look on the bright side.

Unless children feel properly ‘heard’ they will find it difficult to listen. We then have choices. Either with kind but misguided intentions, we try and make it all better – or we can teach them how to rise to the challenge. We (as parents and caretakers) can do this by asking good questions...." Read on here. 

We gratefully sourced the feature photo here by Gary L. Lemons who works on Black abstract art and spoken-word.

Reading Corner

Title: Zero
Author and Illustrator: Kathryn Otoshi
Ages: 7+

"When Zero looked at herself in the mirror she saw a hole right in her middle. How can a number worth absolutely nothing become worth something? Zero sets out to find worth in herself. She felt empty inside. Zero is a wonderful number book that looks at not only the concept of counting, it tackles the social issue of self acceptance and diversity. I liked how Otoshi used feeling words that most children of three or four year old would not know and gives opportunity to extend their vocabulary. I also found it was fun to stay with the fast paced story to see how the number Zero was going to count. If there was a "Grandma's Choice Award" it would certainly be a winner...." -- A reviewer at Amazon

Be the Change

This week invite children to watch the movie 'Wonder'.

As you and your group watch this movie, see how it connects with the title of this newsletter; it comes from a lyrical verse from Leonard Cohen's notable song 'Anthem': 

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

See you next week.