Grade 6
It didn’t matter what they taught me at school, or what grades I got, because school was the biggest life teacher for me. More than books, and subjects, there were humans, and humans gifted me experiences, that teach me to navigate in life, and understand it on a deeper level.
The story I’m going to tell is quite an emotional one, at least in the shoes of an 11 year old, who’s just turned 11. Although, my inner child is still healing from this wound, it has been a great medicine for me as an adult in many scenarios in my life.
As a student my relationship with teachers was phenomenal, I never had any issues but with my classmates, it fluctuated, a lot of rocky roads. I was always in conflict with myself, and I guess it created that external world for me. I was always searching for what’s right, what’s wrong, how are things supposed to be? I had too many questions.
Coming from an extremist background, we weren’t allowed to celebrate birthdays, so it was a breath of fresh air to have a twin in my class. Now I don’t mean a biological twin, but a birthday twin. Me and her shared the same birthday, both ur names began with H and we were born in the same hospital. Her parents were restaurant managers so she would come in every birthday with two massive birthday cakes, and the whole class always looked forward to it every year.
In 2004, on my birthday, Wednesday the 26th of May, I arrived a bit late, and as I’d entered the classroom the whole classroom began to sing: “Happy birthday to H….. only, happy birthday to H….only”, mentioning my friends name only and not mine. Twenty-two students collaborated all at once. I broke down instantly with tears, and I remember trembling and crying for almost the whole day.
When I look back, I think to myself what was life trying to plant in me, teach me, show me. And I figured out that people weren’t the issue, they were just a trigger of a weak muscle I had. Even as a child? Of course, babies fall down and hurt themselves a hundred times before they learn to walk. I learned that even if the whole universe gathered together, and did what my class had done, it wouldn’t have mattered, because the truth was, that it was my birthday, it was the 26th of May, nobody could have taken away what was explicitly mine. In this world, you will come across people who will try and set fire to your garden, but they only will if you let them.
These wounds do take time to heal, but our awareness to them on a daily basis become the medicine. Be gentle, loving, caring of yourself because nobody will give you the care and love like you would do to yourself.
