Nothing
illustrates being real - living life with worn off feathers and worn down
edges - as beautifully as the story of The Velveteen Rabbit, first published in 1922. read the story
For those of you who might have forgotten, here's the
story:
A stuffed rabbit sewn from velveteen is
given as a present to a small boy and the becomes the boy's favourite toy.
Time passes, and the rabbit becomes shabbier,
but happy.
One day, the boy becomes sick with scarlet fever,
and the rabbit sits with him as he recovers. Afterwards, the doctor orders that his room
should be disinfected, and all his toys burnt - including the
velveteen rabbit.
The rabbit is
left out in the garden overnight, where he sadly reflects on his life with his
boy. The toy rabbit cries and a real tear drops onto the ground, and a
marvellous flower appears.
A fairy steps
out of the flower and comforts the velveteen rabbit, introducing herself as the
nursery magic fairy. She says that because he is old and shabby and Real, she
will take him away with her and "turn [him] into Real" - to everyone.
The fairy
takes the rabbit to the forest, where she meets the other rabbits and gives the
velveteen rabbit a kiss. The velveteen rabbit changes into a real rabbit, and
joins the other rabbits in the forest.
For us, the moral of the story
is that we each need to be our own magic fairy and recognize and appreciate the
beauty we bring to the world even when we are missing a few feathers!
DANCE WITH IT! EXPERIENTIAL APPS
An opportunity to
experiment with some fun
ideas...
HOW DO WE TAP INTO
OUR INNER BEAUTY?
MAKE A LIST OF THE
ATTRIBUTES YOU APPRECIATE ABOUT YOURSELF.
These might
include:
Your sense of humor and ability to
laugh
Your compassion for other humans
Your love of other animals
Your street smarts
Your love of learning
Your ability to keep learning and
evolving
Now write these
down on a big post-it note
NEXT FIND SOME
THINGS ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE YOU LIKE.
These might
include:
Your sparkly eyes
A good smile
Teeth…
You get it, right?
Now write these down
on another post-it
POST THESE NOTES ON
YOUR BATHROOM MIRROR AND READ THEM EACH TIME YOU FACE THAT MIRROR! YOU MIGHT WANT GIVE YOURSELF A SMILE AND A
WINK AS YOU DO THIS…
And check out our down-loadable relaxation mini-meditations
at
