It has been three years since I have written anything on these pages, but I will adding frequently as I move forward through my castle.   Some of what I will share will be specific to a certain topic I feel passionate about, and some posts will be more personal to my own journey and growth along the way.  

 Buckle your seatbelt ... this is gonna be a bumpy ride.

The movie "Happy Feet" is a great tool to highlight the unwarranted judgments, stressors and difficulties faced by those who are in some way different from the norm.  I’m not sure if it was intentional, but the story certainly echoes the journey of children who struggle in the classroom.  Just like the movie our educational system and cultural values can turn many happy and joyous children into fearful, anxiety-ridden souls who doubt their intelligence and place in the world. This is not done intentionally, but it happens because we have a narrowly defined  “acceptable” way of learning. Children who struggle with reading, spelling, math and organization are often told to try harder, labeled lazy, laughed at by their peers and given special classes that highlight their areas of weakness.  

The struggling students are never told their difficulty in some subjects is simply because they are right-brain learners; they are seldom given the appropriate tools to match their right-brain learning styles; and they are rarely praised and accepted for the gifts and intelligence they possess.  Instead, they are unintentionally made to feel rejected, confused and stupid because their learning needs don’t fit our left-brain educational system.  Is it any wonder that some struggling students begin to act out as their anxiety, anger, confusion and hopelessness increases with each school year.

What a difference it would make if ALL children were given the opportunity to understand how the two hemispheres of the brain operate differently. All children would understand their unique learning style and wouldn’t have to wonder why some subjects were more difficult to master. This doesn’t mean the skills from the non-dominant hemisphere can’t be learned, but it may require classes designed for right and left-brain learners.  These easy changes would increase student’s self-knowledge, and teach students about diversity, acceptance and an appreciation of our complex brain functions.

Read the summary of Happy Feet Below (or watch the movie!) and ask yourself these questions: Why do many of our children enter school happy and inquisitive, and suddenly begin feeling isolated, anxious, depressed, angry and abandoned?  Are they lazy? Do they not care about their future?  Or might our educational system and society need to learn about right brain learners and begin to appreciate these highly intelligent, creative people?

As a community we have a choice to make a giant leap … a paradigm shift in our education system and the opportunity to change the future of many students.  Too many of our bright happy kids are giving up on their futures, turning to drugs/alcohol, or ending up with legal issues because we are not hearing their heartsongs.  Let’s open our hearts and see the gifts we have been overlooking for far too long.


Happy Feet
The movie, Happy Feet, is a wonderful tale about a young penguin named Mumbo. Mumbo was born with feet that liked to tap out the rhythm of his heart. He had a great attitude and sense of humor, plus a huge capacity to love.  One would think this loveable little guy would have been the joy of his community.  The only problem was his culture said Heart Songs were to be sung and he couldn’t sing. 

Mumbo was unaware of his difference when he was young. He laughed, played and felt good about himself.  But when he entered school it became very obvious he couldn’t do what was expected.; he couldn’t sing.  He was laughed at and he was given special teachers. Mumbo began to understand the societal rule: being different was unacceptable. Instead of being embraced for his gifts Mumbo was alienated  by many judgmental questions:
What’s wrong with him?
Why isn’t he like everyone else?
Did something happen during birth?
Why doesn’t he just try harder?

Many well-intentioned teachers tried to help him learn how to SING his heartsong. They would have him visualize the sound and visualize his parents pride in hearing his song, but the song always came out of his tapping feet. The lessons made Mumbo feel worse and he was also given the idea he failed his parents. Eventually his teachers, parents and friends gave up hoping Mumbo would ever be able to SING a  heartsong that would connect him to his community. And Due to  social conditioning , the community was not able to HEAR Mumbo’s heartsong streaming out of his Happy Feet.  How sad.

Heart broken and feeling alone, Mumbo often escaped to places where he could tap out his song. He was often found daydreaming as he imagined a world where he would not only be accepted, but where he could feel like he belonged.  One of Mumbo's gifts was his acceptance of others who were different from him, probably because he knew what it was like to be unfairly judged.  Sometimes, his acceptance would get  him in trouble, but  Mumbo eventually found friends that accepted him. His new friends shocked Mumbo because they could hear his heartsong and affirmed his gifts.  Mumbo finally felt  loved and accepted,  but he still longed to be accepted by his own community.
In the end,  Mumbo's community  did open their hearts and expanded their minds to hear Mumbo's happy feet heart-song,. But more importantly they began to understand how much they could learn from each other and how well they complemented each other. It was a happy ending for everyone.