I’ve left Mr. Whiskers in the care of some kind neighbors for the weekend while I attend the annual MIDTESOL conference (for English language educators) in another state. And as I sit in session after session of informative presentations today, I’m struck by the common thread between both animals and all kinds of people: this desire to be both free and loved – and how the two are inter-related.
It may seem like an elementary thing, but I have to stop and remind myself that we can never truly believe we are free (and thus feel and act like it) until we understand that we can be or are truly loved… AND when we are truly loved and we know it, trusting that love (or learning to trust it again when the time is right) will lead us to live all the more freely in a good way.
It will lead to any or all of the following: more contentment, greater clarity, decreased fear, resounding (positive) impact, indescribable peace. And I think those are the marks of true freedom…much more than just the wide bounds to do whatever one feels like doing.
I see this not only on a basic level in the behavior of my guinea pig but also in the way at-risk folks I quietly advocate for open up to a sense of community when they know they are safe with me and in the way my students overcome their anxiety to develop more fluency whey they see they will not be punished for their honest, learning-driven errors.
Hard to believe I’ve had Mr. Whiskers for over a year and a half now. And equally hard to believe how far he’s come in expressing himself more freely and learning to trust again after being treated poorly by his previous owners.
One day last weekend, he curled up in a ball in the sunlight and slept like a rock while I worked busily very nearby.
And the next day, while I played a certain song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxO5rLV9pWU), when I leaned close, I could hear him squeaking along softly and sweetly with the music.
Fitting…and, oh, so true.