A reflection on the season of childhood by Teacher Lucy—

It amazes me how incredible the colors are in the fall. The Earth’s palette, rich in variations of greens, reds, and yellows, announces the changing of the season as if shouting, ?You’d best prepare for winter’s chill! Each leaf seems to speak a story. I marvel at the size of some, and the radiance of others.

Can you imagine in the spring, being able to predict the exact shading of a fall leaf? We may know maple trees are made up of many shades of red, yellow and orange, but we would be remiss in our ability to forecast the look of a single one. Yet as sure as the sun rises, it is a natural process for the leaves to grow, to reach for the sky, and to burst into an orchestra of colors.

Childhood too has it’s own natural rhythm; from birth though adolescence, each child has a story, with a palette of colors. They draw us towards them with their spontaneity and joy, as they embrace life and it’s seasons.

Childhood is a glorious time, but can be shortened as the adult world rushes on by. In a society where we have lost our timing, children remind us of just ?being there. Their strong connections to the earth help us all to slow down and take a breath.  Children, like trees, reach forth knowing that if they stretch out, the earth will warm them through and through. We cannot change a child’s desire to run, to dance, to sing, to splash, to yell VERY LOUD, and to imagine all that can be. Some children will sprout quickly bending and swaying in the wind, like the leaves of a willow tree, while others grow stout and strong with silent eyes taking in all of the sounds and sights of the world.

It’s a wondrous thing to watch them grow and to rediscover the world through their eyes. It is not always so easy for a child ?to be a child. Children are often pushed and prodded into growing up too soon. They can lose their rhythm and sense of self, blooming without color, and fading away.  For childhood is an important time, not to be hurried along.  It is the spring of our lives and needs care.

— This piece was originally published in our November 2009 Newsletter