My life as a student has found its way to smother the time I usually spend blogging each week. But don’t worry, we are still visiting the girls and have been reading more poetry than ever. This past week we had 15 girls for poetry, that is around double normal amount! Many of the girls came prepared with their writing on paper and others with a million and a half thoughts on their mind. Needless to say, we had a lot to discuss. We talked about boys, relationships, parents, our weeks, you know the usual things that most girls talk about. But this week two conversations stuck out with me the most.
One of the girls read a poem she had written for a boy. She said something along the lines of, can I control the feelings I have for you or are they completely out of my control? After she said it her words resonated within me. I told her, “you know, you are right. I think about that frequently. I often find my thoughts centered around boys and things that are no good for me yet I cannot find a way to make them disappear.” The girls all agreed. We shared stories and talked for a while about how we accept what we think we deserve. I looked around and all the girls were so caught up in their own thoughts, even I was. I can tell we were all thinking about specific situations in our own lives that were suddenly tested. It was obvious the perspectives of our self worth were each challenged.
The next topic that truly stuck out to me was humanity. The girls were sharing different things they struggled with and the judgment of others. The girls all had different opinions and really started to get sassy with one another. Ms. Em, being the wise woman that she is, found middle ground. She pointed out that all these controversial struggles we debate over don’t matter, what matters is humanity. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, we are all human beings. Each one of us is someone’s child. We discussed the importance of treating one another with respect and humility since we are all human. I think the girls learned a lot about how to be compassionate toward one another. I left Wordsworth feeling completely challenged with a whole ton to debrief. How many times do I make judgments instead of spending the time to get to know a person? What stereotypes do I allow myself to believe? How can I be more accepting of the people around me? How can Christ’s unconditional love overcome my skewed perceptions?
This past week I have been reminded of the simple rule Jesus so strongly emphasized: Love your neighbor as yourself Mark 21:31
Voices Of Beautiful Flowers 