The other day, G came home with this question taped to the front
of his shirt:
Figure I – “free messages would you like one”
We live in a crunchy-granola community, wherein students and
teachers are liable to offer a little shoulder rub when someone looks down. G
got quite a few after the whole popularity imbroglio. Then, after G’s class
began to directly address inclusion issues (and people had begun paying a
little more attention to the more marginalized kids in class), G had begun to
offer shoulder massages on his own, probably as a known method of connecting with
other students. He was recognized as being pretty good at giving these mini-massages
and decided to engage in a little self-promotion, as above.
Giving massages brought G some social acceptance…so much so
that he thought it would be a great idea to advertise on his own body.
I worried, seeing that sign, that G was following a course I
chose early on of substituting acceptance of my generosity for acceptance of me
as a person. We Spectrumites often have
porous boundaries, and when we opt for giving, takers may abound.
Nevertheless G seemed really happy, said he had a lot of
people who “let him” give them shoulder rubs.
His teacher apparently told him he might have a good career
as a massage therapist, but G objected, stating that his chosen career as a
marine biologist was more important.
“But what about the good you could do for people?” his
teacher asked.
“Who needs help more, people, who can help themselves…or
seals?” G responded.
Please let me know if you need a message – I can get ‘em for
free.
Love,
Full Spectrum Mama
