Little Reps at play in the world

Listening

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:11:50 -0400

I’ve taken to the outdoors. My commitment to listening has brought on many changes in the last few weeks. For one, I’ve moved my drawing table outside. I knew I wanted to do daily drawings because I am learning so much about myself and others through the practice of just listening. I stood inside my workroom and heard the hum of the house. Then I stepped outside and listened and heard the hum of the cicadas. It became really clear that I needed to move to working outside - something that I’ve been secretly wanting to since my Silicon Valley days of working in an office cube.

I’m reading a book called Last Child in the Woods. Ever since teaching my Fairy Camp early this summer I’ve been drawn to listening to the natural world. I took the girls to Woodland Gardens to visit their display of Fairy Homes and came away knowing that we all need to spend more of our precious time listening and feeling the harmony of nature.

Get your Big Ears on!

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:28:19 -0400

Listen. I just took an hour to listen to Gordon Hempton, an amazing audio ecologist talk about what it is to just listen. Here is the link to the interview at On Being

http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2012/last-quiet-places/

Most importantly, around minute 23 he recounts how parents often tell him “my kids just don’t know how to listen!” His sage perspective about real listening and how children are our teachers, will inspire. He talks about the pleasure of putting a preschooler on your shoulders and going out for an evening walk. “preschoolers who haven’t yet been trained to listen and can take in the whole world, they know how to just be here.”

“What we hear is who we are”

Grace At Play

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:47:30 -0400

Grace and I give gifts through an initiative called Grace At Play in the World. It’s a chance to put profits from the sale of each Little Rep to good use. We recently heard back from a family who received a surprise gift in Tea.La’s golden pocket. The father said that at the time when he received the gift he was grieving and in despair and wasn’t quite sure what to make of a pair of concert tickets, as he was in a place so far removed. When it did come time to attend, he and his son had a magnificent evening under the stars listening to music. He shared with me that the timing was perfect and that the evening of music was the first time in months that he felt relaxed and connected to his old self. I’m glad we followed our intuition and was able to spread joy and ease. After all, that’s what the Little Reps are really here to do. Spread Joy!

Opportunity Knocks. Can you hear it?

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:50:09 -0500

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=367222

Listening: the forgotten skill

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:14:43 -0500

As part of my preschool teaching responsibilities I am asked to attend continuing education courses. This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a workshop on listening skills lead by Ms. House, a Special Ed teacher. She talked at length of how listening is the forgotten “fourth skill of literacy,” of how listening accounts for up to 40% of an educational experience and ended with a strong plea to work with our children and teach them how to be good listeners so they’ll thrive as learned listeners.

I left the session with a bagful of teaching tricks and the desire to write companion stories to support the Little Reps’s message of heartfelt love and listening. I’ll be ordering M. Burke-Allen’s book, Listening: The Forgotten Skill pronto!

Made in the USA

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:01:44 -0500

We just returned from a manufacturing trip to Arizona to visit the seamstresses who are working with us as we try to grow the Little Reps line of toys.

Look how happy Pat was! She spent the day with Laura, sharing all of the assembly tricks she uses to get them to look just right. We are ever hopeful!

Kate’s Club

Sat, 7 Jan 2012 15:12:04 -0500

Oh what lovely people we met this morning. Kate’s Club - a place for grieving children and teens in downtown Atlanta hosted us at their annual Resource Fair. Grace and I had a good time talking and meeting with everyone. It was an A+ big hug day! http://katesclub.org

Home at last...

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:13:48 -0500

Each Little Rep has someone they are meant to find. It looks like Za.Zing met his someone today. What a glorious smile.

Little Reps at play in the world