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The poet William Wordsworth captured the wonder of childhood, of his childhood days spent with his dearest Sister in “The Prelude”:
… At a time
When Nature, destined to remain so long
Foremost in my affections, had fallen back
Into a second place, pleased to become
A handmaid to a nobler than herself,
When every day brought with it some new sense
Of exquisite regard for common things,
And all the earth was budding with these gifts
Of more refined humanity, thy breath,
Dear Sister! was a kind of gentler spring
That went before my steps. Thereafter came
One whom with thee friendship had early paired;
She came, no more a phantom to adorn
A moment, but an inmate of the heart,
And yet a spirit, there for me enshrined
To penetrate the lofty and the low;
Even as one essence of pervading light
Shines, in the brightest of ten thousand stars
And the meek worm that feeds her lonely lamp
Couched in the dewy grass.
Childhood is part of our past, yet always remembered. Those memories possess both lightness and darkness. Beauty is in the Tao of childhood. Childhood, however brief, was the time of genuine wonder. Did you even question existence? Nope. You were too busy living having fun. You’d tilt your head back and close your eyes to feel sunlight upon your face. You’d run as fast as you could without a clue where you were running to. You’d make up lyrics to songs you didn’t even know.
As children, we all discovered greater than. The world was greater than, too. I can never go return to childhood, nor do I desire to. Life exists in the now. Yet, I appreciate my childhood source as I move forward, hopefully in grace, in wonder.
In the Aikido seminar at the Dojo, I practiced with a female student, about 10 years old. She likes Aikido, mostly. Partly, she’s there to satisfy her parents’ wishes. There’s the possibility of Aikido for her. We practiced kokyunage which means “breath throw”. I’m much bigger, so the technique didn’t feel safe. Not safe much like the experience of the world getting older, even at 10 years old. I got it. I got her. Now let’s be greater.
I lead her, “Move me like this. Breathe out when you throw.” She followed my instructions. She smiled making the throw work for her. Her face brightened up. She got, “I can do this. I’m strong.” As Sensei, that’s what you live for.
I watched Sensei Dan experience that over his teaching lifetime. Even at 80 years old, Sensei would spend half a class working with kids instructing them in how to fall or telling them to throw with their “feelings out”. Use their ki, their connection to the Universe. Sensei told me once, “Beginners are like gold.” We must treat them as so. Sensei got the distinctive wonder in children. Children see the world with beauty from within their souls. Really, Sensei taught out of his love of Aikido. He taught out of his love for them.
As children: The “earth is budding with gifts.” We created everything anew. Every day was the invented blessing to behold. Teaching children reminds me of that, as it did for Sensei. Children’s timeless wonder of the world inspires us to be greater than, even when we’re older. Children shine the light of “ten thousand stars”. They inspire the greater within us all. Amen. Amen.
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Photo credit: Pixabay