Let Go Of What You Cling To … Embrace What You Resist

I received this message (the article’s title) two years ago while facing a difficult time. After years of incessant ringing and significant hearing loss in one ear, I suddenly was experiencing hearing loss in the other ear. The doctor’s prognosis was not promising, and I went into fear, sadness and despair.

“Let go of what you cling to”, I heard from within. “Embrace what you resist.” While I didn’t particularly like this directive, it certainly got my attention and subdued my pity party. The first part of this message was easy to identify. Of course, I clung to my hearing. So, that night, I prayed, cried and ultimately surrendered to “what is.” (Miraculously the following morning, I woke up to returned hearing in the second ear.)

“Embrace what you resist.” Believe it or not, what popped into my head was Facebook. Facebook? I had to admit that I had vehemently been resisting Facebook and all other forms of social media – mostly because I was totally intimidated by it.

Previously, my brother had eagerly showed me Twitter and even typed in T’ai Chi Chih. My response? “Yeah, yeah, that’s sweet.” A friend had excitedly showed me Pinterest. My response? “Pinterest schminterest.” When invited, I certainly had no interest in joining In-Your-Face-Book. Needless to say, I harbored a major social media attitude.

“Embrace what you resist.” The day after receiving this message, I joined Facebook – and I now thoroughly enjoy it.

At this year’s conference, I sat in on KG’s presentation of TCC and social media, and heard, “Even if you don’t access these platforms, your students do. So it is useful for every teacher to be aware of them.”

Suddenly (or not so suddenly), the light bulbs went on and I felt and saw the value and potential of spreading TCC exponentially via social media. Now I finally understood why Kim had been asking for years to send photos of people doing TCC. (Oh, you want softness and continuity? Why didn’t you say so?)

The social media presentation really got me thinking. What can I do to spread the word? For starters, I’ve been sending photos to Kim for publication. I continue sharing Vital Force copies with my students and encourage them to subscribe. I remind students that there is an app for the TCC photo text to help them remember the movements. And, now that my thinking has been expanded, however, I’m asking the students to choose from the website and a buffet of social media options to write a paper on anything they’ve learned about TCC. How cool is that?