Maya Angelou’s words are so simple and profound. I love this poem and I use it with my children in creative movement class. It is a wonderful compliment to the willPower and Grace practice we have adopted. I especially love to use it around Halloween when I ask the children to make their “brave stance.” I beat the drum and say the words and they pose like warriors, ready to do battle with whatever daemons come their way. “If you ran into a ghost, what would you do?” I ask them, and they make their brave stance. It is a way for them to feel centered, stable and to know that they can take on life’s challenges. It’s not about tackling things that frighten us but about remaining strong in who we are, feeling rooted to the ground and knowing that we can weather any storm.
Just yesterday in fact one of my five year olds came up to me at the end of class. She told me she was scared when she went to bed the night before but she remembered to say to herself “life doesn’t frighten me at all” and it made her feel better. Poetry to my ears.
So much of life has to do with fear. Learning to work with it, through it and let it go. I know that children experience fear. They are sometimes frightened of the unknown, of all the things they still have yet to explore, of the ways the world will and will not be kind to them. I consider myself so lucky to be with them during this formative time and to give them some tools to deal with the emotions that arise. Having a “brave stance” is amazing for any stage of life. I hope my children carry their brave stance well into their adult lives. To be honest, I still use mine from time to time.