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Last June I received a letter from my kids national school saying they had tried to find a part-time music teacher but couldn’t find one. As I read the letter I got a very strong feeling to reply and offer my services.
Now even though I’ve played and loved music all my life, I’ve never really taught it, although I’ve taught on many other subjects – communication skills, creativity, accelerated learning, yoga, meditation, team work, peace studies and many other topics. Also my previous teaching/training had been to adults mainly in the corporate world. It was very enjoyable in the most part, paid well but there wasn’t much happening there now.
I was about to throw the letter in the bin but something within me whispered “hold on“. I could have so easily thrown it in the bin thinking “I’m too busy for that and it certainly won’t pay many bills! Let’s leave it to someone else to teach the kids about music, I’ve more important things to do with my time!”. That of course would have been my ego’s response but my Spirit in its quiet whisper was stronger. And I am so so grateful for that.
I did muster up the courage to put my ego aside and call the Principal of the school and the response was positive. I sent her in some of my ideas and experience and she said she’d think about it. It was two months later before I heard anything and she wanted to give it a go and see what happens.
I offered to deliver two classes from 8.15am to 9.am, one for guitar and one for bodhran (Irish drum). Well the response was amazing – there were at least 30 young kids (ages 9 to 13) in the first class, noisy, excited and all over the place!!! So I thought it best to do four classes a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. That was September 2010.
Now it’s June 2011 and for the past ten months that’s what I’ve been doing and I’m glad to say I didn’t miss one morning teaching these young kids how to play their instruments, how to play together, how to hold a rhythme and other important elements of music education. And also very importantly I believe, I aimed to teach them the importance of nourishing their talents and that to become good at anything takes time, patience, persistence and above all practice. Like a flower who begins as a seed and needs daily nourishment with light, water, nutrition and in time becomes what it was born to become, sharing it’s perfume with those who pass its way, talent, unlike what we are often lead to believe, takes time to develop, it’s not a quick fix.
Well this morning was the culmination of all our practice – we delivered three mini-concerts in the school – one for parents and two for other school kids. As I directed the kids in their outstanding performance my heart was moved beyond belief. I felt such a feeling of connection with everyone present in what seemed like infinite moments in time, infinite moments of stillness, infinite moments of peace.
It was beautiful, truly and magically beautiful. And in my book, albeit that it is great to be paid for doing this work there really is no amount of money that could surpass the fulfilling feeling I felt in my heart as these kids performed in all three mini-concerts. There really is no need for any of us adults to be concerned about the next generation, they are the wisest yet! It is such an honour to serve them.
As many of the parents came up to me after the concert to shake my hand I was deeply grateful and so glad to have heard the whisper of the universe in that letter one year ago. As Kahlil Gibran (1883-1930) said “When you were born your work was placed in your heart” Sometimes it takes a bit of time and exploring to find it but never give up looking until you discover your treasure!
I’d like to finish this post with a prayer I’ve written called May We Answer Our Callings
May We Answer Our Callings
May we be aware of how the universe speaks to us
May we take the time to listen, hear and feel her message
May we find the courage within to act on her blessed message
May we realise we don’t need to understand her mysterious ways
And May we allow ourselves to be instruments of her divine wisdom
for the Greater Good of All.
In Peace
Seán M Kelly
PS: The Dare to Dream online course is now open and there’s currently 66% off the regular price. It will inspire you to answer your calling. Â Just click this link:
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful prayer … Thank You.
Hi Asta, thank you for your kind words, may your most fulfilling dreams come true
Hi Sean,I love the poem and the teaching story,as a teacher myself.Those children are very lucky.Will have more time to explore dare to dream when I get hols.I hope all will fall into place and trust it will.
LOVELY STORY. OUR HEARTS ARE OUR ROAD MAP AND CHILDREN ARE GREAT TEACHERS. CHRISTINE
Hi Dan,
Well that was one of the big lessons on this project, it would have been so easy to not have bothered. And as I said in the article I’m so glad I chose to follow through. Your comment is great Dan and puts the whole experience into a much bigger picture so thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and wisdom. Dare to Dream! Sean
Hi Sean,
What a great story – it’s so not about the money! There’s such a reward in knowing that you’ve been a part of something that touches the lives of other people. In this case, you’ve been a part of something that has affected a community. When you take it further, your one decision, that was so close to being discarded in the bin, will affect the lives of countless people. Each of the children has received a gift, their parents and teachers have enjoyed the gift also. Who knows how far that will spread? You may have set a child on a path to discover their own gifts which they will in turn spread out… and you could have easily not bothered!
Hi Assumpta,
Great to hear from you as always. Well in essence the whole project teaching music to the kids was a “Dare to Dream” one for me. It was a great adventure really, with some days when I was learning a great deal about patience myself too I will admit. I look forward to your further participation in the Dare to Dream course and in hearing about how your dreams are manifesting. Carpe Dream Assumpta!
Hi Christine, great to hear from you and I hope you’re doing great. They say that IQ levels go up with each generation so yes I’ve a lot to learn from these kids for sure, who knows what the next step on this journey will be? Thanks for your comment.
Hey Sean. That’s a classic example of following your intuition. Listening to that “inner-voice”, trusting it, and then following through is a major factor in success. The problem is, that most of us don’t trust that inner voice and we ignore it, unfortunately.
Great post, thanks.
Absolutely Andrew, thanks for your comment and good luck with your great work.
Carpe Diem!
Sean