I just finished reading Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi that S. lent me about two weeks ago. Published in 1981, this book was a runaway bestseller in Japan and has a timeless, universal appeal. I was absolutely charmed by it.
It’s a book I happen to think that all educators, and parents, should read for it honours an educator par excellence, Sosaku Kobayashi, who was founder and headmaster of Tomoe Gakuen, an alternative elementary school during pre-WWII days, and inspires with Kobayashi’s forward thinking and real love for children.
He sought to affirm every one of his students, devising ways to make them each feel special. “You’re really a good girl, you know,” was a phrase Kobayashi used every time he met the exuberant Totto-chan who was perpetual motion in trouble.
What really gave me cause to pause was this paragraph from the book:
“Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truths; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.”
His students looked forward to school each day for learning was fun. They learnt to see and appreciate the beauty and the miracles in the world around them, and consequently, were taught how to respect nature and fellow human beings.
The ability to find something wondrous and worthwhile even in the insignificant is a skill that every child should be taught, and eventually hone as a discipline. For unless we can appreciate what we have been given, we will not be able to feel gratitude.
And if we are not grateful then we will not be able to fully experience the blessings in our lives, even if we were handed the world on a platter. That would be too, too sad for there is so much in life to be thankful for.
Just the very act of breathing that keeps us alive was a gift from God to Adam as He first breathed life into him. A gift each of us is given when we emerge from our mother’s womb and take that first breath of air into our lungs.
I find that living with a certain mindfulness, a heightened awareness of the world perceived through all my senses, allows me to experience moments sublime in the mill of everyday living.
And when I allow these moments to connect deep inside of me, space is created for the divine to enter.
It is in these spaces that I can once again become a free-spirited child just like Totto-chan, gain respite from worldly concerns, draw strength from unfathomable depths and find inspiration to create.
Cherry blossoms fall,
Sighing softly in the breeze
It’s a book I happen to think that all educators, and parents, should read for it honours an educator par excellence, Sosaku Kobayashi, who was founder and headmaster of Tomoe Gakuen, an alternative elementary school during pre-WWII days, and inspires with Kobayashi’s forward thinking and real love for children.
He sought to affirm every one of his students, devising ways to make them each feel special. “You’re really a good girl, you know,” was a phrase Kobayashi used every time he met the exuberant Totto-chan who was perpetual motion in trouble.
What really gave me cause to pause was this paragraph from the book:
“Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truths; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.”
His students looked forward to school each day for learning was fun. They learnt to see and appreciate the beauty and the miracles in the world around them, and consequently, were taught how to respect nature and fellow human beings.
The ability to find something wondrous and worthwhile even in the insignificant is a skill that every child should be taught, and eventually hone as a discipline. For unless we can appreciate what we have been given, we will not be able to feel gratitude.
And if we are not grateful then we will not be able to fully experience the blessings in our lives, even if we were handed the world on a platter. That would be too, too sad for there is so much in life to be thankful for.
Just the very act of breathing that keeps us alive was a gift from God to Adam as He first breathed life into him. A gift each of us is given when we emerge from our mother’s womb and take that first breath of air into our lungs.
I find that living with a certain mindfulness, a heightened awareness of the world perceived through all my senses, allows me to experience moments sublime in the mill of everyday living.
And when I allow these moments to connect deep inside of me, space is created for the divine to enter.
It is in these spaces that I can once again become a free-spirited child just like Totto-chan, gain respite from worldly concerns, draw strength from unfathomable depths and find inspiration to create.
Cherry blossoms fall,
Sighing softly in the breeze
A sweet song of joy
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