The Lighter Side (June 2001)

1. I was so happy to get my first TCC class set up and knew that it would be announced in the weekly program of a local church. I excitedly opened the program and searched through to see:

9:00 am – 10:00 am T’ai Chi Chih, Moving “Medication”
(Hmmm . . . maybe they know more about this than I thought!!)

– Debbie Cole

2. As nature contracted during this winter season, so did my TCC classes. At first I started to worry, but then I decided to take advantage of the slow period and go within. I meditated on letting go of my limiting beliefs. I took a hard look at some of the choices I’ve made, and their consequences. Once again I found myself in that limbo of transition and change. I knew it was a good place to be, but I still didn’t like it. As a friend of mine recently said, “One door closes and another one opens, but it’s tough hanging out in the hallway!”

To ease this restless time, I turned to nature. I enjoyed looking at the trees and the animals outside my window. A few days ago I opened the blinds and saw a squirrel playing in the middle of the parking lot. I was in a silly mood and said, “Come on Mr. squirrel, come on over here and come see me…Come on…Come on.” At that very moment he looked up at me, and took a hop forward towards the window. I started laughing and continued to say, “Come on…Come on over and see me.” This happened about four more times, and each time he jumped forward in a straight line until he was about three feet from the window. Then he got busy with a nut, and I started thinking how I wanted him to stand up on his hind legs and look at me. In a few moments, that’s exactly what he did! Then I asked for a message, and he abruptly darted away out of sight. I was disappointed at first, until it occurred to me to see where he’d gone. I went into the next room and looked out the window. I didn’t see him at first. Then I realized he was sitting completely still on top of a bench. He was motionless for awhile, then he took a sudden leap off the bench onto a nearby tree and scurried towards the dumpster. I burst out laughing. I got the message.

No, it wasn’t that I was nuts for talking to the squirrel, it was: sit still, take the leap of faith, and get rid of the garbage!

P.S. Later on that very same day, I received the March 2001 issue of the VFJ where Ed Altman wrote about taking his own leap of faith.

– Sharon Sirkis

3. During one of my beginning classes, I finished teaching, then handed out the list of the moves to the students, reviewing the names of each move. One of the new students started giggling…

She said, “Oh, I thought the name of the move was ‘Around the Bladder’, not ‘Around the Platter’! I kept trying to picture what my bladder looked like and thought how odd it was that a move would be named ‘Around the Bladder’!”

Needless to say, that group of students really had a unique bonding experience that day!

– Mary Pat George

4. Three of my out-of-state grandchildren were spending a couple of weeks with me one summer. They were nine, seven and four years old at the time. Every morning the two oldest, Don and Dymond, joined me for T’ai Chi Chih. However, Lea, the youngest, did not care to participate, but played quietly off to one side while listening to the music. Finally, on the last morning, she joined our circle, but as we finished the Rocking Motion, Don, her seven-year-old cousin, said, “Grandma, Lea did not come to a graceful conclusion!”

– Sher Dano