I dreamt last night of a world I did not want to leave. “Hold me back,” I told my companions, lest I fly up into the wonderous sky above. At that moment I was watching the dance of clouds as they morphed into fairytale forms, yet what was below was as magical as what was above. A child’s playhouse of wonderment and joy. I have dreamed these landscapes before. I have even traveled them in visions only to return to the density of a reality that seems, on the surface, false and formed through the deliberate hands of ego-driven might. By hands shaped by the individual quest for greed.
My soul has not forgotten the true magic of Life. Of untempered Joy. Every so often, it returns me to that state to bring back hope and also Truth. I have walked the broken lands that still hold magic for those who wish to see and feel it. Through the deepest depths of a despair that is not just mine, I have felt the ever-present stirring of Light.
We all walk the landscape of magic, whether we are aware of it or not. At each moment we can choose whether to become the trapped victim of fear fed by that greedy hand lusting for power and dominance, or we can find that ever-present state where the river of Life flows to the frequency of Light.
Here is where the inner-child resides, waiting to dance to Truth. We call her the inner-child because she holds the key to Life. She never forgets the “child-like” state of wonder that is the magic of all existence. The embodiment of true Joy, she resides in all of us. Tuned to her frequency, the world around her shifts to match the rhythm of her dance.
For so many of us, including those who are not yet adults, the inner-child is already lost in a long-forgotten place. We may know she is there. Sometimes we may even feel her inner core of light, but we have forgotten who to get to her. It is as though we reside in a labyrinth that takes on a maze-like form because the light within us is filled with broken lines created by pain and fear. These shadow lands impede the natural flow of light, which is that magical life force energy that vibrates to Truth. To Joy. To Love.
As one well-intended individual has pointed out, the labyrinth that appears in my first book in the Warriors of Light series does not resemble the labyrinths seen throughout ancient cultures, and which is now used in “New-Age” healing modalities. The labyrinth I chose, or rather chose me, is a maze of lines that unite the above with the below. Those who are familiar with esoteric teachings will recognize it as the mystical hexagram, the Star of David, or the Merkabah . Its origin predates religion and division. Two triangles overlapping in union, connecting the above with the below in perfect harmony. The true self, that “inner-child,” can be found always at the center. The seat of the soul. Of Truth. Of Light. Un-changing. There can be many individual journeys to get there, but we all, eventually arrive at the same place.
The book will be out soon…I had a minor glitch in formatting, a glitch which is turning into a gift to allow a more beautiful expression of the book and the vision that is being held to assist and support children young and old reconnect with the inner-child of Truth.
The Light Behind the Story 
I really love this writing Alethea. As a child, one of the moments I remember so brightly was the day that I learned to fly. Like all little children, I had a sacred playhouse in my mind, and one day someone came into my little sacred place and broke all my little dishes and my secret and sacred things. And that was the day I learned to fly. I flew up and away from that place where others could get into, and I flew up high into the sky. It was so beautiful, and like a bird, I felt wonderful and powerful to be able to have a private space that was so much more magical and wonderful than my old sacred place. No one else seemed to be able to fly like me, so I felt very empowered and special. Looking back at that defining moment, it changed a lot of my life. Often my dreams were involved with flying. I don’t fly any more, or I have not for a long time as I don’t have a need to fly. Now I have my art and my writing and studying and reading and pets and a person whom I love and who loves me very much. I am a different kind of empowered and special now. I am a crone, and I have a strong foundation. In my elder years, I know my strength. I stand on my foundation, and I am not moved from it. At 76, I am where I am meant to be.
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Thank you for sharing your beautiful, story Anne. It is filled with such empowerment and hope it brought tears to my eyes. I am so glad you have always remembered your wings. ❤
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Thank you, Alethea. There were a lot of things that I could not understand, but I dealt with what I had to and I am glad that I found another way to do it. I think a lot of children’s lives could be saved if they had a good set of alternative “tools” to use. Yes, it has been a long, long time since I have needed or wanted to use them, but just remembering makes me realize that they are still there if I need to use them. But then I have other good tools too, like writing. Here is a poem I wrote called
“On the Other Side of the Garden Wall”
When I felt I was lost, I was found,
For I couldn’t know I was lost
Unless I had a context of being where I was.
When I felt I was unloved, I was loving myself,
For I was acknowledging
My human needs and feelings.
When I felt afraid, I was the bravest of all,
For it takes tremendous courage to face
Scary thoughts and feelings square on.
And when I thought I had no hope,
I had tremendous hope,
For things could never get better
If I couldn’t see where I am now,
And have a sense of needing to change.
And so I realize
I’ve been on the other side of the garden wall
All along.
Written by Anne Copeland, 1992
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Anne, your poem is both beautiful and inspiring. I am wondering if you would not mind sharing it on the Awakening Kids & Teens Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/192347244739698/ ❤
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I am very glad to do that. I am an advocate for anti-bullying and also individual learning with the basics of reading, writing and basic arithmetic. I would love to see all children validated for the things that are important to them, instead of being labeled as some form of learning challenged because they want to learn what they are interested in and not the things that others may thing they need. I have been a substitute instructional aide, paraeducator and teacher for many years in the school districts, and I have seen far too many students being deprived of who they are and how they choose to accomplish things. What difference is it if a student wants to put a hat on a paper figure before he puts the arms or legs on it? And why should he be discouraged if he is obsessed with school buses. Teach him everything about school buses and then allow him to move on to his next and greatest obsession. It is these obsessions that really help us learn things. I had absolutely no interest in geography or history with the way it was taught, but the minute I learned about quilt history, suddenly I had a context for a lot of things I could not have imagined would interest me. Teachers don’t seem to recognize that is a need of children. And they also often teach subjects with no context of meaning for the children. Children are far smarter than we give them credit for, but just as it is with us adults, they need to have contexts of meaning.
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Thank you, Anne. I abosultely agree with all you have stated and I am so heartened by your passion and enthusiasm for helping children embrace who they are and not be pushed into trying to learn or grow a certain way. ❤
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Thank you kindly, Alethea. Do you want me to wait when there are posts that would go with that poem, or should I write something about children who are bullied, and then perhaps post it or ??? and if you want, you have my permission to repost it when you like.
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I would absolutely love it if you posted the poem and about children who are being bullied. If you share your passion and experience it will help open the door for others. Thank you ❤
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Today, if we follow the events that are happening at and within the school systems, we can see that despite daily practice on what to do if an unwanted person comes to the school, we still see children being hurt and even killed. And then there is the bullying that goes on in many of the schools, and there is no practice for what to do when that happens. In the area where I live, we recently had a 13-year old young girl hang herself because she was so severely bullied because she had braces. It is a tragedy that need not have happened, but again, the schools have not been prepared.
I have long been an advocate for anti-bullying and it is a goal to teach parents what to look for and how to prevent it on their ends. I have tutored many children in the past, and I remember going in to talk with the Vice Principal about one of the children because the parent did not want to have to deal with it. Bullying is not something new. It happened when I was in grade school, and it happened to me directly. And bullying happens at all levels of society and in all age groups. I understand it all too well because I too had to deal with it as a young child, as a young adult working, and as a senior. Yes, seniors can do some vicious bullying too.
What do you do to help your child against bullying as he or she is growing up? For one thing, you need to learn how to talk to your child. Some children, a lot of them in fact, will keep matters to themselves because they are ashamed that they didn’t know what to do, and some think perhaps they deserve whatever it is that happens. You need to realize just how serious this issue is and make sure it doesn’t happen to your child. You need to talk to them every day about how they are feeling and if everything is OK. You need to talk about bullying and why other children bully. There are lots of good things written about bullying and you can look them up on Google and read them. The key thing is to be there for your child in every way possible. Before anything happens, talk to your child about how to deal with bullies. Some sources say to ignore them, but that doesn’t always work, especially if the bully has been doing this for awhile. And if it goes on and your child is unable to deal with it, you have to go to the Administration and talk to them, letting them know it is not acceptable for your child to be bullied and that if anything happens to the child, the school is fully responsible. I have known teachers to actually allow bullying of the special needs children I worked with for so many years.
I have a poem I wrote some time back after I had been severely bullied. I hope that it will help your children too. It is called “On the Other Side of the Garden Wall.”
When I felt I was lost, I was found,
For I couldn’t know I was lost
Unless I had a context of being where I was.
When I felt I was unloved, I was loving myself,
For I was acknowledging
My human needs and feelings.
When I felt afraid, I was the bravest of all,
For it takes tremendous courage to face
Scary thoughts and feelings square on.
And when I thought I had no hope,
I had tremendous hope,
For things could never get better
If I couldn’t see where I am now,
And have a sense of needing to change.
And so I realize
I’ve been on the other side of the garden wall
All along.
Written by Anne Copeland, 1992
We want your children to always be on the other side of the garden wall. Love them every day and let them know that they deserve to be respected by anyone who knows them. We are all precious and unique, and life is meant to be experienced fully without any fear or interruptions.
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Thank you for this, Anne. I am going to share this on the Facebook page now. xo, Alethea ❤
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I am always glad to share. If you have any other topics you would like me to address, I am very glad to do that any time. Having worked with a lot of different students with physical, developmental, emotional or a combination of those challenges (and juvenile delinquents living largely in group homes, I have dealt with a lot of issues and also reported a lot of abuse that simply went “under the shelf” because schools get paid only if the children are in school, and if parents knew all that went on in the schools, they would all pull their children out or most of them would.
Is your program only during the summer or is it all through the year? Do you have a facility as yet, and if so, how many children will you be able to handle? Will it be full day, half day, etc.? Will it be along the lines of Montessori or ?? How many people do you have that will help with the children? When do you expect the school to answer.
One of the issues with children who are indigo children or similar, or those who have different issues that can be overcome with time is that once they get stuck with that label, they will have it for life, and will affect them detrimentally. And the teachers are all too quick to want to label the children.
Another problem with all the children is that the mothers send them to school even when they are sick, sometimes contagiously sick, because they may be working and have to try to find a babysitter or nursery for the day and they cannot afford to do that. I have had children throw up all over me, and give me many illnesses over time because they were so ill when they came to school. The schools are supposed to not allow them to come to school when they are ill, but they ignore it and the school does nothing.
I would love to see children be able to participate in everything they have during the day on their schedule. So this would mean they help fix and/or serve the snacks and their lunches. And that goes for cleanup and any other chores that are needed every day. Switching children to do certain chores regularly helps them learn responsibility. Gardening and learning to care for some kinds of creatures is also a good thing. I liked the idea of nature adventure days, where each child has a box or bag and they can all gather things they find out in nature and then make something out of them. I worked with children in the libraries, etc. to do art projects. I brought a variety of materials so they could express in their own ways, and I encouraged them, but not a lot of encouragement was needed. Each child picked his or her own theme and created it beautifully and skillfully, mostly without any assistance.
Anyway, I have loved working for the many years with children and have found even the most autistic capable of doing a lot more than people gave them credit for.
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Hi Anne, Thank you, I appreciate your sharing of your wisdom through experience and your willingness to help support our endeavors. To clarify, we’re not intending to open “schools,” at least not at this point. Our plan is to begin with online support for children, teens and their caregivers. We want to provide a place where kids and teens can feel at home and supported with who they are. We will be offering live and online workshops and classes that will help kids find balance, guidance and support and will link to resources, books, etc. We do hope it grows to include nontraditional healing and educational centers throughout the world (which will focus on non-traditional teachings), but we need to start somewhere…and an online presence will help reach a wide range of children and teens who are looking for support. First step is finding funding to begin.
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That sounds wonderful and is something that should help a lot. Are you going to try for a grant and have you written grant proposals before? I have done that and can help with some parts as well as helping to seek good grantors and seeing what their schedules are for applying. Yes, I like this. I am going to start training in June to become a volunteer mentor/advocate for foster children via C.A.S.A., which is in many of the states. It means Court-appointed Support Advocate, and we do get appointed to be in charge of the welfare of one foster child for an 18 month commitment, about 10 – 15 hours a month. So yes, I think that is a good idea what you have. One way you can do it is to piggyback with another organization that performs complementary services for children – perhaps not what you do exactly, but something that fits nicely. You might get a grant quicker and for more if you have another service you connect with. You would not be part of them, nor them you, but the two of you would fit together in referrals, etc. If you stay under a certain dollar amount (it varies by type of organization), you can avoid all those tiring requirements. Anyway, I do think there is a need for this, and the biggest challenge will be to avail these online resources to children in a manner so that both you all and the children will both be protected. This is a big project, but it can work if you start at a level that works for you without too much paperwork, board member requirements, etc. You probably know all of this already. I ran a very small nonprofit and limited it to $10,000 and all of us were volunteers (all three of us, the minimum you can have) for physically challenged fiber artists for about 10 years, and we had a lot of success providing ways for them to get exposure for their work, and teaching them professional development. I have one good person I know who is involved with an organization for single moms and their children, and that is an example of a type of organization to piggyback with. Just some thoughts but I am not at all discouraged if you don’t use any or need any of those things. Hope you have a good week. Peace and many blessings, Anne
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Thank you, Anne. Yes, the next step is to look into grants or a sponsorship opportunity.
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What a beautiful post Alethea! It reminds me of an experience last week. Life has been a crashing tumult lately with two kids graduating and a bunch of other family events. Little time to process, and a sprint through every day. But I got sick last week, unfortunately on my only day to get some necessary tasks done, sandwiched between events. The amazing things was, as I slept through my illness, I got to fly! Those moments flying accomplished far more in my soul than tasks in the visible world. The Lord was so good to me to give me that gift.
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How beautiful! I love those gifts of flight while our bodies sleep. I find it’s a little difficult to reintegrate into this world after them. I hope life settles down over there and your children have a lovely graduation. ❤
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