Thursday
Arts and PoetryBeyond Time, and the White Washed Brains
These two short offerings were written for Acharya Noel McLellan’s grade 11 English class at the Shambhala School. The first piece, by Kelsey Borden, is a paragraph response to the poem of the week, which in this case was Season’s Greetings, by Chogyam Trungpa. The poem can be found by clicking here.
Beyond Time
We are obsessed with time. We always must know the time, we must be on time, and we must know the right time to act. One could argue this is how we organize our lives and how we must live. But perhaps we do not need to know the time. Perhaps knowing time is destroying us from truly enjoying life to its fullest extent. Perhaps we must throw time away in order to live. Or, we must find a balance between time and no time. We must be able to dictate basic parts of life into time but not put our entire lives in the unforgiving hands of time.
Kelsey Borden
Jan. 22 2012
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The next piece was written spontaneously in class by Joyce MacNeil.
The White Washed Brains
Walk with me.
See the world through my eyes.
Open your mind and let everything pour in.
It is all so wondrous — not a moment shall be missed.
Forget the world that is thrown at us daily,
With the school, the work, the street cred, and competitions.
Each day they dole us out horse blinders that seem impossible to rid ourselves of.
Push past the white-washed brains and see what is truly around us.
See the twig on the branch with its tiny leaves, shriveled from the bite of winter.
It is possible for one to love more than one aspect of the world —
Like a platonic polyamory with all that surrounds us.
To be deferential and caring as one world,
Would create perfect harmony.
Joyce MacNeil
Feb 2 2012
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Joyce and Kelsey are in grade 11 at the Shambhala School in Halifax. To learn more about the Shambhala School, click here.
Feb 23, 2012
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These are such a insightful offerings.
To hear such insight at such a young age really cheers me up.
Not only an inspiration individually but speaks to the named values
of the Shambhala schol in a very real way. Thank you for publishing here
and sharing with us all.
Can’t wait till they hold a circle of “ordinary wisdom” and we can all
see and hear in real time!
Cheerful new year! M
Feb 23, 2012
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Thanks for sharing!
Feb 17, 2012
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Outstanding and delightful.
So glad you included a picture too.
Thanks!
Bruce