During our first Lower School Community Meeting of the year our faculty modeled how to run the event. I stood at the back of the room and smiled like the Cheshire Cat as I soaked in the moment. My colleagues’ incredible care and thoughtfulness put me completely in the moment, which was the perfect segue into my short talk at the end of the Community Meeting.
We started implementing the RULER program at Lake Forest Country Day School in the fall of 2017. This program aims to help the children recognize their emotions and the emotions of others. By slowing down and “recognizing” our emotions, we also learn to notice and appreciate the beauty, love, and delight that surrounds us.
It is common to rush through our days and not notice all the gifts we have in our lives. If we stop, just for a moment, and notice, we will see the spectacular. I was recently reminded of an experiment highlighted in a Washington Post video that I saw a few years ago, and I shared it with the children.
The Washington Post asked violinist Joshua Bell to play in a Washington, D.C., subway to see if people would stop and listen. “No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made.”
More than a thousand people walked by, and only a few stopped to listen. The vast majority did not notice that they were witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime moment. I explained to the Lower School students that extraordinary things can pass us by every day if we don’t take the time to notice them. I said their homework for the week (which they did not have to hand in!) was to simply be aware of all the amazing things around them. I encourage you to do the same. Try to capture a few moments each day and notice the truly magical. It’s amazing how easily exceptional moments can pass us by.