Kids inspire artists like William Wegman

William Wegman listens to a student share his fairy tale. @1991. 
The tales were collated and bound into a book. The children also sewed a quilt of their drawings and presented it to Wegman. Pine View School, Sarasota, Florida. Teacher, Reva Ginsberg Levy.

Someone asked why I spend so much time watching and being with young kids.

There's a lot I can say. 

I like that children think they can be president of the United States, climb Mt. Everest, or travel into space. I like that they aren't afraid to pet a furry caterpillar or hold a spider or say what they think. I like that they do for the love of it and aren't interested in pleasing others. I like that they notice things. Little things. And make stuff up. About anything.

I'm not the only one captivated by children. Artists often talk about what they learn from watching and listening to them.

Ideas come, and it all happens quite by accident. 

Like the time I worked with a group of extraordinary arts leaders: William Wegman, Nancy Roucher, co-director of a Getty-funded Florida teacher training institute, artist Ron Yrabedra, and Pine View teachers, Pat Johnston and Reva Ginsberg--and students in the early 90s while working at the John and Mable Ringling Museum.

Wegman was coming to talk to kids about his photography and we wanted to prepare for his visit. His work includes large color polaroid photographs of his weimaraners. 

The event would take place in the museum galleries.  

In preparation to meet and talk to him (for a dialogue—think Oprah style), elementary students spent weeks studying his work by talking about what they see and what it means (an approach I learned reading Terry Barrett's books).

For one lesson, they chose a photograph and wrote a fairy tale about it. During Wegman's visit, they gave him their tales. 

A couple days later, Wegman called the curator (who called me) to say Wegman thought about the students' fairy tales on the plane ride back to New York City. He said he really liked them.

Later, Wegman wrote his fairy tale book series. Perhaps the students inspired him.

Thoughts from my visit to the Anne Frank Montessori School

Image: Friends, Robert Smit, and Timon Hagen, in front of the Anne Frank Montessori School in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

I've recently returned from Holland. 

Timon Hagen, pictured in the photo, arranged a visit to the Anne Frank Montessori School in Amsterdam. Timon's children currently attend. Robert's son graduated from this school and now attends another school.

As we approach, the front walk is filled with children and parents. Kids hop on their parent's bikes and head off for lunch. 

I see colorful stripes with words across the building facade. Robert says it is an Anne Frank quote. Loosely interpreted, the verse says, "I love Holland and adopt it as my country. I look forward to the day when I can give back in service to Holland." 

We enter the school. 

A mosaic memorial in the foyer lists children taken from the school and killed.

Timon says as we pause quietly in front of it, "I have two daughters attending this school. I can imagine the feeling Frank Otto (Anne's father) had. He was a father of two daughters as I am. The thought of what happened to him, to his daughters is beyond my conception."

After our school visit, we walk to a local Jewish deli for lunch. We talk about the school, the liveliness of the children attending, and their lessons and ours. We talk about Anne Frank and her enduring spirit, the same spirit echoed by Viktor E. Frankl in his book, Man's Search for Meaning.

Frankl writes about living in the concentration camp and what could not be taken from him. He says that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.

While there, I purchase and reread The Diary of Anne Frank. Her story reveals a spirit similar to Frankl's, and a time unimaginable. 

I see Anne Frank as stronger and more vulnerable than I recalled. Only her father survives the concentration camps and it is he who passes her diary on to us.

Her diary is a description of hiding. This surprises me—after over a year of hiding within a despicable context, Frank writes about delight and gratitude! She peeks through a cracked-open window. From that slight opening she looks out and sees the sky and feels a breeze on her cheek. She sees the moon and writes, 

"Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again."

Oh, breath-giving gratitude! I'm hanging onto that. Thank you, Anne Frank.
No matter the adversity that comes in life--the seed of happiness within is simply dimmed—in fact, it can only be dimmed. Happiness is always within us. We simply need to recognize it. 

Falling out (or down) and trying again

Image Credit

I want to tell you about my struggle to stay with my improved wellness habits.

This is what happened.

I notice Lois. I am at a yoga class. It is her birthday. Classmates gather around to sing happy birthday as she holds a handstand.

Lois is 75 years young.

A week later I practice alongside Lois. When we try frog pose, I look over at her. She holds her feet off the ground for a few seconds and then falls out of the pose. She quietly tries again. She tries again. 

I began to think about what it means to fall out. To fall out--of a pose, a practice, an intention, a commitment--in all areas of my life.

I realize that when I do a yoga pose I'm practicing how I can choose to live. 
I know that I have a choice about my attitudes and responses. I want to approach a pose and life's experiences by giving it my all with a soft, consistent determination. 

I believe I need to be fully present and alive in the moment to practice this. 

By learning to be present and to participate in a way that is both steady and comfortable means I free myself from any thought or sensation that brings about self-judgment. 

While I am practicing a pose, I let go of thoughts such as “I can’t do this posture” or “everyone is so much more flexible than I am” or “I will never be strong enough to do that” because these thoughts are disruptive and make it difficult to be present and focused. 

Instead of self-criticizing when I fall out in a pose or skip a run or choose a not-so-healthy food, I notice my judgment and how it affects me. Then I let it go. I simply notice and let it go! 

I try again with an intention of giving 100%. And then I accept how 100% looks in that moment. 

When I fall out (not if), I try again. 

Just like a young child learning to walk. She falls. She doesn't say, “I can't do this. I'm no good at walking. This isn't worth it.” She doesn't give up. She tries again. When she falls, she gets back up again.