Hey You - Get Outside! (by Sarah Hedges)

Recently it has come to my attention that parents are concerned about the amount of time their child spends in front of a screen or playing inside. Often the amount of time children want to be plugged-in indoors relates directly to the amount of time their parents spend on their iphone, laptop or in front of the TV. So often we hear how different children are these days, but really the kids haven’t changed, our society has.

As I watch my own kids grow, I am constantly reminded of how much they ape my actions and mannerisms. They want to spend time in front of a screen when I do. They want to stay inside because my husband and I do. These kids wake up in the morning at 6 and asks, practically beg to go outside within the hour. We had to landscape our crazy-looking Chinatown backyard (formerly a household garbage dump) just to appease them and find us a way to go outside sporting jammies, bed-head and coffee mugs. We drag ourselves out of bed, they sproing into life in an instant, every morning, mind whirring like windmills in a storm.

I believe all children are born with an elevated consciousness, vibrating at a higher frequency than most adults. Energy workers sometimes refer to this as the fourth or fifth dimension. This is where we live truly in the Now, this is the goal of yogis, meditators, holy people. Over time, I think we devolve if we don’t watch ourselves in this material world. I think it starts at about nine and goes steadily down from there, after that we really need to try to stay up there. I think young kids are magic, timeless gurus. They are born so perfectly pure, they speak the truth, sleep easily, smile often. They adore the connection they feel to our planet, our collective Mother, the elements, the moon. They love the wind, the rain, the storms. They have few natural fears of the dark, monsters or (terrifyingly enough) cars. Not until they are taught. Childhood is when humans are at their most abundant, powerful delicate selves. These little ones are bigger and brighter now, than maybe most of them will ever be. They look to us to guide them, but maybe we’ve gotten it all backwards.

They are our teachers, but they are looking to us for guidance. But we are their teachers too, and yet we forget that we can look to them for guidance also. Maybe we’re better off not leading, not following but leading and following simultaneously. Dancing, to each other’s rhythms, like in a circle. Moving this way and that. Trading our innate and attained wisdom back and forth.

If we want an easier time of things, we really need to look at ourselves. What behaviours are we showing them? If we were parenting ourselves, what behaviours of ours would drive us nuts? Do I really demand less screen time than my children? Given my smartphone, laptop and personal governance, are they really “watching” that much more than the average adult? Maybe? Maybe not?
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Bottom line, if you want your kids to behave better, watch yourself. If you want your kids to read more, pick up a book. If you want your kid to yell less, lower your voice. If you want your kid to respect your belongings, respect theirs. If you want your kid to eat healthy food, eat it with them. If you want your kid to be happier, check your anger and laugh more. If you want to get the kids outside, Get Outside!………………
………….GO!

Sarah Hedges
​Nature's Course Arts

Sarah is the owner and the facilitator of Nature’s Course. Her background is in the psychotherapy and the photographic arts and she received her BFA in photography, at Ryerson University in 2000.

In 2006, Sarah graduated from a 3 year program at The Create Institute (formerly ISIS Canada), in Expressive Arts Therapy. She has facilitated arts programming at many agencies; Eva’s House, Hazel Burns Hospice, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre and Ronald MacDonald House, doing both group and individual work. Sarah found working in groups very rewarding, as it provides the opportunity for participants to both learn from and teach each other, simultaneously.

Nature’s Course is the culmination of many years of schooling and experiences working within the creative arts. Working consciously within the arts can be very healing and these benefits shouldn’t be confined to a population in crisis. Sarah strongly believes that everyone has an innate ability to create, yet so many of us have been told we aren’t skilled or have been doing it incorrectly. Therefore, much personal healing can occur when the arts become accessible.

As well as Nature’s Course, Sarah also co-owns the Inner Arts Collective, a co-working space for alternative health and divination practitioners on the Danforth in Toronto.
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For more information, please visit the website at naturescoursearts.weebly.com or email [email protected]