The Wonder of Wishing
“The most fantastic magical things can happen, and it all starts with a wish.” —Pinocchio
The first day of school, the nerves, the excitement, the fear, the thrill is memorable. Maybe you don’t remember every detail such as the taco socks you wore or the name fact you shared but you definitely remember the feeling, that “first” feeling. This first week there were so many emotions that crossed the Acton threshold for learners, Guides, and even myself however at the end of the first day one feeling had a palpable consensus, the feeling of joy.
The goal of our Acton school is to guide learners to love to learn and that starts with loving to be at school. We do this with joyful games, freedom, stories, and ritual. Ritual is that special ingredient that is often overlooked. It may feel silly to walk on our Welcome Party rainbow walkway as a new family but that ritual is symbolically special. Rituals like firsts are memorable moments that have the power to bind a community with meaning and love. To share, there are two daily rituals that bookend a learner’s day that are simple and powerful. 1. Morning greetings of a handshake, high five, hug or other fun hello offers the ritual that acknowledging a person is an honor. 2. Closing namaste. This mantra evolved organically in year one. Learners needed to understand the meaning of namaste and so now every day learners close in unison “I am awesome, you are awesome, we are awesome because we are on this journey together. Namaste.” This ritual is loving and again honors the individual and the journey of the group. This is how learners learn to love school so that then they can learn to learn, do, and be.
During our Welcome Party last week we introduced a new ritual of wishing, setting an intention for the year by placing a ribbon on our new Wish Tree. If you didn’t add a ribbon yet or you happened to miss the party the wish tree is still waiting for you. In fact, just like our mission for every person who enters our doors to find a calling and change the world we also invite every person to set an intention, a wish, and add a ribbon to our tree. Click here if you want to learn more about the history of wish trees that date back to the 1700’s and here’s how our wish tree works. You have options: pick a specific goal that is tangible to accomplish by the end of the year (green ribbon), or pick one character quality that you want to grow (yellow ribbon), or set an intention of an idea or thought you want to live into (blue). Choose if you want to write your intention or your name and then tie it to a branch.
Wishing is a wonderful practice and the beauty of our newest wish tree in the lobby entrance creates a daily reminder and invites wonder. At the end of the year we will have another ritual, removing the ribbons and remembering. Next year, the ritual will continue.
Just like in the hero’s journey of Pinocchio, fantastic and magical things happen at Acton because of first a wish and then effort, challenge, and grit to pursue intention. Sometimes your wish may be a bit out of reach and other times it is just what you need to motivate your path. Regardless of the outcome it is the journey of holding a wish that defines who we want to be and this act provides wondrous meaning.
So, I invite you to set your intention, write a ribbon, then before the end of this session share your intention with at least one fellow parent traveler. Star points if you can share with 5 other parents. As you travel on your journey this year check in with your wish from time to time. Maybe consider making a ritual out of restating your wish at the end of each week and reminding yourself why your wish matters. Also, sharing your wish with your child is a fantastic way to model goal setting and life long learning.
Wishing you a wonderful year!