((((((PR, Yoda woman))))))
I value whatever you have to say.
And respect any silences in between the lines.
I don't want to make a new myth about instinct, either. There are such times, in nature and in our lives, when instinct isn't enough and we just don't have enough power. Nature's beautiful, the source of life, and it's also brutal. The small and frail get eaten all the time.
But sometimes they get away.
The instinct is just one power. Not infinite. But I crave stories, like that date NLAS had and her realizations, and when people here post tales of immediate N-spotting and their recoil and self-protection, and assertiveness experiences, and all of those...that illustrate the instinct being heard and respected.
Probably because I want to and need to respect mine more. HEAR my inner whispers.
I think it's one we've got inherently and our children can be taught so much more radically to recognize and respect it in themselves...to reduce the numbers of tragedies and disasters. Not eliminate them, that will never happen, curse it. But reduce them. Hell if that avoided ONE instance of violence or violation, it would be worth millions spent on that kind of education and support for children. And it would avoid many more events than that.
Warning: fairly explicit description of abuse follows (though the attacks ultimately failed).
In my covenant group last night a woman told us her precious granddaughter, age 8, was just attacked a week ago. Her family went to a popular resort, the lobby was crammed with kids, and the Mom told them to stay together (ages 8 and 5) for five minutes while she re-parked the car. In that amount of time, a man dressed in the same color-combination the resort staff all wore (obviously planned), got in an elevator with her--she was wearing her sparkly cape her grandmother made and carrying her fairy wand. He pretended to be concentrating intently on a cell phone call so it wouldn't look suspicious to a casual observer that he'd also gotten on the elevator with a child. When they reached the next floor, he told her the attraction/play event she was looking for was "that way". She turned left, it was a dead-end alcove, and he was on her.
She would NOT open her teeth. She would NOT cooperate. She resisted so intensely and five minutes of went by and he finally ran. He did assault her but not with the success he wanted. She was praised and embraced and honored by every single person around her, including the police, for her resistance. Her grandmother believes she's going to be okay. Her spunk is still there. She's tired of talking about it but she's whole. Or if she isn't, this family will certainly help her to be.
Then her grandmother talked about another incident she'd heard about and what fierce relief it gave her. Two little girls, about 9 and 11, were grabbed off a sidewalk. Somehow the 9 year old got away while he sped off with her sister. The 9 y/o screamed, yelled, hollered, and went nuts screaming INSTANTLY. She was so loud that neighbors ran out immediately, a woman got the license plate number, and in a mile he literally rolled to a stop and tossed out the 11 y/o, unhurt.
The grandmother talked over and over about how miraculous this difference today is to her. These girls had been taught, intensely, in school, a four-word plan that literally reinforced their instincts against all the other cultural messages they'll be submerged in. For these kids, that support prepared them to REACT to their instincts and RESPECT them instead of freeze.
NO.
GO.
YELL.
TELL.
This training helped the 9 y/o be an antelope. And saved her sister.
But I don't think kids get enough of it, early enough, from enough people in the village.
rambling on...(sending much love).
Hops
