Laurie Cameron
Certified Coach & Master Certified Relationship Coach
The Journey From Fear to Love
Weekly WAKE UP Call!
November 10 , 2008
How 130 Ninth-Graders Woke Me Up
What do you call spending an entire 6-hour school day in the same large room with 130 ninth-graders?
Challenging. (That one's a given!) High energy. Emotional. Humbling. Touching. Overwhelming. Remarkable. Inspirational. Motivational. Heart-wrenching. Fulfilling. Exhausting.
Last Wednesday was all of those things – and more - to me. It was my latest in a long string of major, big-time, gonzo WAKE UP CALLS.
CHALLENGE DAY® (www.ChallengeDay.org, www.ChallengeDenver.org) is designed to help kids learn that they're not alone in what they're feeling and experiencing; that violence, aggression and oppression in any form hurts us all; and that they deserve to feel safe, loved and celebrated, just because they exist. In my mind, a mission doesn't get any better than that.
My own daughter is a senior in college (when did THAT happen?!?), so I've been pretty far removed from the energy of 14- and 15-year olds. I see them at the mall and at Starbuck's. I have friends who have kids in that age range. I know they exist.
But to spend a day with that many of them, in an environment where they're challenged to drop their masks and expose who they really are, was a true gift in every sense of the word.
(For more details of the day read my 11-6-08 blog post.)
For well over a year, I've had a sense that I'm being called to somehow get relationship empowerment programs to middle school and high school kids. (The Missing "R"). That's where this information needs to be.
In all this time, though, it's remained more of a nebulous, intuitive inkling, without much substance, form or direction.
Last Wednesday changed all that. I cried when the kids cried because they don't feel safe to go home. I hugged kids who had the courage to admit their deepest fears to each other. I hugged the kids who were still too afraid to remove their masks.
Every cell in my body experienced the deep grief of each child there who has been persecuted, harassed, bullied, abused, teased, and hated on just because they live and breathe on the planet.
My mission - to create a sustainable culture of compassion at home, at work, in our schools and in the world - became more real, more tangible, and markedly more urgent.
As we moved through the games and exercises of the day, and I bore sacred witness to their transformation (and the transformation of us adult volunteers, too), I gained a better understanding of the Big Work I'm here to do. I became more resolute in my commitment to somehow, some way, do that Work.
In the last five days, this commitment has continued to settle deeper and deeper into my Being. It's kind of like when a baby drops in the womb before being born, when it's ready to say, "Here I come, world!"
So, instead of suggesting a WAKE UP CALL for you this week, I wanted to share mine with you in the hopes that it will perpetuate an amazing cycle of inspiration.
The tag line for Challenge Day® is BE THE CHANGE®. Sounds to me like a fabulous place to begin.
(c) 2008 Laurie Cameron. All rights in all media reserved
NOTE: you have my permission to share or reprint this article, as long as you include the following byline at the end of it:
Laurie Cameron, CC, MCRC, is Your "Evolutionary Relationship" Expert! She's ready to help you eliminate heartache and drama from all your relationships... FOREVER! Contact her at 303-740-0352, or Catalyst (at) LaurieCameron (dot) com. Website: www.LaurieCameron.com ; Blog: http://TodayIChooseLove.com; Book: www.TheJourneyFromFearToLove.com.
(c) 2008 Laurie Cameron & WAKE UP! Enterprises. All rights in all media reserved. You may share this article as long as you keep it intact (no editing) and include this entire byline at the end.
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