The Great Blueness

The other day it was too rainy outside to play our usual golf so we decided to do indoor creative movement instead. One of the keys to what I do is flexibility, in basically every sense of the word. Physical, mental and emotional. No possibility for golf? Doesn’t mean we should miss an afternoon together. During my time with children over the years one thing has become increasingly clear to me: it is less about what we do and more about the attitude with which we do it. Of course there are certain golf swings I want them to practice and techniques that are important but if they aren’t focused and having a good time, it really doesn’t matter what gets done.

Cut to last week. I decided to do a few stories with the children. The one I started with is called The Great Blueness and it’s currently out of print. My copy is old, worn and pretty much falling apart at the seams but it’s a favorite and I treasure it. To summarize, The Great Blueness is about a town with no color. The book opens with a wizard waking up in the time of “the great greyness.” He decides to make a magic potion and at the bottom of the pot appears the color blue. Everyone is thrilled and they paint the whole town blue. After awhile, though, the town begins to feel sad. There is simply too much blue. The wizard goes back down into his basement and creates the color yellow. Everything is wonderful! The town is happy and thriving until everything becomes too bright and people can’t see. On it goes. Red makes people angry, etc. The wizard is busy at work and the pot begins to overflow as all the colors come tumbling out. The world is beautiful and bright in a variety of different shades! The end.
I love this book and so do the children. We always have a lot of fun with it and last week was no exception. What I realized in doing it, though, is how symbolic it is for the way I see life and education: no one color works, we need them all. Holistic. I come back to this word over and over again. It is what I strive for in my classroom always. A holistic experience. I want these children to work their bodies, minds and hearts because I know that they are all important components of education. When children are taught in a holistic environment and all their faculties are strengthened they feel stable, centered and, yes, more able and willing to take on the daily challenges that throw all of us, regardless of age, off balance.
Flexibility. If the red is broken, so what? Grab a yellow. If the green doesn’t work? Create a blue. If it’s raining outside? Stay indoors. You might just get to paint the world a million shades of color.

Have a great week!

Kate