Just another day in Shambala; after getting 4th chair and tele-skiing, it was time to take my girls to the Nutcracker Ballet, which was a PHENOMENAL production by the State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara! in this shot, Dewa has both eyes GLUED to the stage!
Dewa, ever the Wholistic Chi-ld…lasted until the final Grand Pas De Duex,
then needed a little solo, quiet time…so, we obliged, of course. so much of Conscious Parenting, i’ve found, is about overcoming ‘reaction’ with listening…spacious, unconditional listening. it doesn’t matter how much the tickets cost, or what pony we may have in our heads about how our chi-ldren ‘should behave’…what matters? is the depth of our willingness to listen…same thing that i’ve been attempting to teach you through our Meditation Discipline since 1981…
…besides, whose to say that creating your own Grand Pas De Duex
by running wind sprints until your shoes fly off isn’t the Higher Dance, after all?
This is Dewa’s Nutcracker…whom she has now wanted to sleep with since seeing the Ballet. who wouldn’t? i would! he’s got me just by his beautiful posture. oh sure, i may have used a Cedar shaving to replace his nose (Cedar is Dewa’s favorite wood), and i’ve had to reglue his left boot a few times, his paint is chipped, and yet; he is a most Handsome Nutcracker to Dewa. oh, and that thing that is dangling from near his right baton? that is a cut-off trunk disc from our current Christ-mass Tree Being, Nathaniel. we save all of our Christ-Mass Tree Being’s tree tunk discs and made ornaments of honor for them giving their lives to our Wholiday Season…why wouldn’t you?
***
My TakeAway M(om)ent From the Nutcracker Ballet
now, ilg has been to his fair shake of Nutcracker Ballet’s mind you…however, how can ilg even attempt to articulate how sacredly deeply i adored this years rendition? especially this takeaway m(om)ent…here i am, returned to my h(om)etown, holding my now 4 year-old daughter in my lap as we watched the Nutcracker Ballet and…feeling her Fear arise as she became (understandably) scared by the big, scary Mice which open Act 2? i mean, we don’t watch videos, or do video games, or do movies…so, Dewa doesn’t have a lot of crazy things hurdled at her young mind…those big mice were, for her, pretty dang scary.
“Daddy?” she whispered toward me with eyes wide open borderlined not by mascara but by fear…
“Yes, Honey?”
“Can i sit in your lap? i’m feeling a little bit scared…”
i felt the immense impact of a hundred thousand Conscious Parenting hours hit me in that one heart opening confession of our Chi-ld being so present with her feelings and her trust in me to provide for her…
“Of course, sweetie…come here…there you go…” i said, sweeping Her into my lap and gleefully setting free fine filaments of Her hair captured within my gray-bearded stubble. i then whispered to her precious ear (which i really just wanted to chew upon like bubblegum), “remember, Honey, this is just Clara’s dream…and those big, scary mice are just human dancers pretending to be big, scary mice…”
“I know, Daddy…but, could you still just hold me tight?”
Hum SAH…How Blessed Am i? i thought in that m(om)ent?
“Of course, i can, Sweetie. Of course, i can. Now and Forever…”
and…
of course…
i did.
new Daddyhood…at age 49.
what a trip it is.
and what a Blessing it is, to have Wholistic Fitness® as my Saving Grace for mind/body/spiritual atonement to Be Here Now for her…
Just Keep Practicing, Noble Ones…
Let’s Just Keep Practicing…
Again, and Again, and Endlessly…yet Again!
thank you for reading and choosing to Be Here Now,
feeble ilg
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!
Dear Steve, It doesn’t get any better. These moments anr forever. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all. LOVE Kendo
coach,
recently watched the Nutcracker as well
and by the end i had Zaney deep, asleep in my lap and Tavian by his side
another great m(om)ent in the daddy-warriorism
My last visit to the Nutcracker was as a chaperone for my son’s 4th grade class. Before the kids could go in the theater staff made a big production out of telling them that noisy kids would be removed from their seats immediately.
Half way through the 2nd act, one of the teachers fell asleep – head back, mouth open, snoring to beat the band. Well, of course the kids started giggling. Which led to more giggling and then unrestrained laughing.
The staff came over to our section to kick us all out, but even they had to laugh when they saw the sleeping teacher.
EC, Joy, and Dewa,
I have so much fun with you!!!! Thanks for the many smiles and chuckles. LH and KK and STAR
Precious Ones,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your Metta! ilg just shakes his chronically fatigued head at this There-is-no-Off-Switch Parenting gig…i learn and am inspired so much from your own sharing/support…so THANK YOU! sometimes we gotta all remember; when all the dancers leave the stage and go to sleep; they’re all the same ‘pawns’…it’s just when they wake up and assume their roles, that they appear different. it’s the Divine Hand which ultimately moves us all through our life’s roles on this amazing, exquisitely beautiful stage/plane/planet…
love endlessly through Enlightenment,
ec