Be stirred...

Thank you everyone for your well wishes as I  began my journey at Sunbridge this week..
And what a week it was!
Thus far, I've commuted over 900 miles, about 2 hours each way.
So first, unfortunately, I've been utterly exhausted.
It's somewhat difficult to do all of the "soul work" while running on little sleep and energy.
However, it's impossible to daydream or drift away in exhaustion during the 5 classes throughout the day..
Everything is so interesting, thought provoking, and life changing.
I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Susan Weber and Jane Swain from Sophia's Hearth in NH, who were both so full of wisdom and experience. I feel so lucky to have spent even just a week under their care.
Overall, if I had to describe the teacher education program thus far, it is an in depth and ongoing discovery of how to be a careful observer....isn't that one of the most important traits a teacher can strive to encompass?
I feel like I am already seeing the world from a different angle.

Rudolph Steiner's work and worldview continue to inspire and intrigue me. I'm learning to read in a whole other manner, an inward manner. As a class (of 24!) we are very carefully delving into Theosophy, attempting to find his "footsteps" or thought processes behind what he has written instead of immediately taking the text for truth. It's involved and difficult, but very important and incredible. Cracking the shell of "ordinary thinking" is a lot of work...but good and worthwhile work.

Between Lucifer and Ahriman 

Watercolor copyright 2004 by Rosemary McMullen

We've discussed self initiated movement in depth all week long while discussing primitive reflexes and  the genius of Emmi Pikler. (if you are mothering an infant, you may be particularly interested in her work!)

For the infants in Pikler’s care, there was no propping the child up into a sitting position, no holding the child’s hands and helping him learn to walk, no use of exersaucers, johnny jumpers, or baby seats. Instead, Pikler allowed each infant to come into the vertical positions of sitting and standing entirely through his own efforts, and in his own time. Pikler wrote a book describing this process entitled, Give Me Time To Do It Myself. Anna Tardos, Pikler’s daughter, who is the current director of the Pikler Institute, says, “What’s the rush, we have our whole lives to be vertical!” The gesture of letting infants take their time goes against our “get ahead, sooner is better” culture. (source)

So..
I have the rest of the weekend to rest and enjoy my family (and to clean the house!), then it is back to class on Monday for another week. I wonder what the next days will bring....! I know they will be wonderful.
W is faring very well without me; I know that he has had some very rich experiences with our extended family this past week. The commute is tiring, but it is worth every moment to come home in time (sort of..) to tuck him in for bed. He's gotten into the unfortunate habit of waking along with me at 5:30 am...Wednesday morning he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I love people. I love friends!"

In the evening, before bed, I have the very real urge to be out in my backyard, pulling weeds, watering the garden, planting flowers which I've picked up at the food co-op earlier in the day....I feel like it's my way of digesting everything I have been fed all day long.

*I haven't taken any photos this week, but I'm going to attempt to this coming week. We'll be studying children's drawings during the next few days, so I'll leave you with some photos of some very telling work done by one of the playgarden children (who will turn 7 this September...)