Be My Valentine
With the weather being almost spring-like and the upcoming Valentine's Day, love is in the air! One sees plenty of red and pink hearts, chocolates, toys, greeting cards and cookies all spreading the word on how much we love each other. Being a visual person, I like seeing decorations and evidence of our changing seasons and holidays. Nonetheless, Valentine's Day and many holidays may have become more consumer oriented, and thus there is an emphasis to buy "more stuff" including the adorable stuffy your loved one will cherish. Perhaps we can change this custom.
In our Suzuki community we encourage the growth and nurturing of the whole child and the whole student. The patience our Suzuki teachers exemplify is the result of our knowing and believing in the potential of each student. The relationship built over time is one of mutual respect and love. Our Suzuki preschool encourages feelings of gratitude and feelings of kindness. We want these emotions to be valued and freely expressed. As a sign of love, what if we all thought of the small acts of kindness we can do for each other. Bringing someone a cup of coffee when they are busy, washing the dishes when there are a few in the sink, observing a chore that needs to be done and doing it---can all be small acts of kindness. We can encourage our children that on Valentine's Day, the best gift of love is giving a hug and going to practice without being reminded!
This Sunday we are bringing several of our Suzuki students to The Strand Theatre in partnership with Project STEP students and with guest artist Daniel Bernard Roumain. We believe that our children can share the gift of music and their love of music through community projects such as this. We have an important message of bringing more diversity to classical music, and what better gift than to share this through a free public concert. (You are also invited to enjoy this performance with an incredibly amazing musician Daniel Bernard Roumain.)
Sometimes we feel so busy and stressed. We are suffering from just getting our own responsibilities met. Believe it or not, my most recent fortune cookie said "the best way to overcome your hardships is to help someone else with theirs." I believe we should pay it forward. Small acts of kindness can surely be the best way to show our love for each other, and also celebrate "Valentine's Day." Nevertheless, I will still be happy when I get a Valentine cookie.