I have just started volunteering with Seedling Foundation a couple of weeks ago. The children are respectful, curious, and ready to engage, albeit a bit shy. The team is small and agile, and I appreciate the warmth shown to me. We undertake various activities; from creating art to learning about contemporary issues such as war and deforestation. The idea is to provide a space for kids to express themselves and develop their soft skills through light activities, all with the overarching intention to serve the kids without any expectations. Although I am very new to Seedling Foundation, right at the outset, I am struggling to balance expectations from my family and myself with regards to my volunteering activities. Yet, I feel very welcome by the team to show up to this calling, that too as per my terms, so I am grateful for that.
Rhythm is an important part of our lives. Literally, our hearts beat in a rhythm in a particular range of beats per minute. Perhaps what is surprising is that people synchronize heart rates while listening attentively to each other’s stories. Then, of course there is the Circadian rhythm that governs key functions and states of our bodies. We have all experienced being moved by rhythms in music and dance. Our brains are attuned to patterns and rhythms.
And yet, there are times when we lose our rhythms in various aspects of our lives. Whether it is our sleep cycle or daily schedule. And not just that, but also in our career and relationships with near and far ones. Sometimes, by our own doing, other times just by chance and circumstance. Then again, through our efforts and patience we bring back the rhythm in life. This is such a beautiful process in our life journeys.
I experienced a stunning real-life metaphor of this process today during the drum circle that we did with the children at the home. We created sound, not just with hand drums, but also with drumsticks, handmade shuffles. With a plastic canister and a stick with a rubber part attached! We transformed the sounds into music through rhythms. No words were necessary, bonds were built automatically through just eye contact as we all worked together to create a rhythm. Shyness flew out of the windows and each of the children deeply wanted to be heard and express their presence. Even as a chaperone, it felt to me like we were part of a team, part of something bigger than the individual self. Just like a small murmuration of starlings.
They want to express oneself and be heard is powerful as it is magnificent in this manifestation. The children, in their enthusiasm, couldn’t stop even if we told them to stop for a pattern change or leader change! So, we would get thrown off the rhythm, time and again. The children play so loudly, that it’s difficult to talk to each other over the sound. Yet, even without talking, a rhythm would creep back into the circle. A few of the children even started dancing spontaneously in joy while playing their instrument to the rhythm. We did various activities such as allowing smaller groups to play at a time. This also ensures that everybody felt heard and involved in the circle. We used a speaker to play songs selected by the children and matched the beats of the songs.
The idea is to teach the children patience and cooperation, apart from developing their cognitive abilities. We also passed around the instruments, so everyone got a chance to play different ones. The drum circle also gives the children an outlet to take out their frustrations and excess energy.
Just as in the drum circle today, in life, no two rhythms are the same. Every time it is different. The instruments change and our fellow participants change. Sometimes we keep up with the rhythm and sometimes the rhythm itself changes. Let us just keep drumming in our drum circle of life through our journeys, without any expectations. Let us welcome and enjoy whatever presents itself now and then eventually passes away.
