flying

Thursday, May 10, 2007
clowning around | Permalink

clowning around
Central Park
New York City

He was moving fast, and I was focusing on the kids who were watching. I wish I had more of the baby in the photo. She was wailing for several minutes (maybe she wanted a balloon or cotton candy from yesterday's photo), but at some point in Clown's performance, she became enraptured.

We were sitting on the same bench as yesterday's balloon shot. We had to sit outside the chalked space he'd drawn on the sidewalk. We watched him set up, wait for just the right moment, and start his routine. He was a good juggler, and as all clowns should be, he was funny. But what most impressed us was at the end of the performance when he recited the poem 'Children Learn What They Live' while juggling. Now, just thinking about what parts of his brain had to be working simultaneously makes my brain hurt. At the end he handed out copies of the poem. I have included it, which is by the author of the book of the same title, Dorothy Law Nolte, below.

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972/1975 by Dorothy Law Nolte, PhD

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Category: People, Places, Nature, Color