The Wonderment of Life

Most of us begin our days with a continuous list of things we need to do to keep our lives running smoothly, but we rarely take time to note all the things we don’t need to do. For example, we don’t need to figure out how to breathe. We don’t need to find a way to make sure the earth continues to revolve around the sun. We don’t need to concentrate to ensure that our heart beats and our cells regenerate. All of these things, and many more, take care of themselves without our having to think or do anything at all. This is the miracle of life on earth.

 Beyond the wonder of the natural world, we have the wonder of human-created conditions such as indoor plumbing, electricity, automobiles, airplanes, telephones, and the Internet to name a few. Someone living just a hundred years ago would be overwhelmed by the ease with which we can communicate with people all over the world. Every day, millions of us jump on airplanes and fly to distant locations in a matter of hours. If we have access to a computer, we can read obscure information about any subject, free of charge, at any time of the day or night. And yet, it’s only when one of these miraculous inventions fails that we notice it at all.

When you wake up tomorrow, take time to notice how many things are running smoothly, how many small miracles compose your day. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, as you put them on, take a moment to appreciate the fact that without them, you would be unable to see. Your life would be entirely different if someone hadn’t invented corrective lenses. As you take in your world, you might feel a moment of gratitude for the basic fact that, once again, the sun has risen to illuminate the abundant earth, and the earth’s gravitational field holds you and all that you hold dear in a tight, life-affirming embrace. (Anonymous)

This piece was emailed to me last night by a very special person – Shaundrika!  Thank you. I found it so powerful that I felt compelled to share it and expound on it just a little.

Shaundrika worked with me as a graduate SLP student about two years ago. She touched my life. She and I fashioned some goals for stuttering therapy, but what emerged was the very essence of therapeutic relationship. I was extremely resistant to fluency shaping targets. That became apparent right away. Instead of insisting that I conform, she helped me to look into the windows of my soul and find what really matters (to me).

 This was no ordinary SLP-client relationship. We walked the journey of self-discovery together.

 She was not afraid of stuttering and was not afraid of me, even though at times I was afraid of both. Our relationship epitomized what should occur between two people in any relationship: give and take, authenticity, risk taking and respect.

I learned about who I am as a person who happens to stutter and I believe that Shaundrika learned about the stuttering core.

It is not what is uttered, or heard or seen. It is what is not heard, what is felt and what matters. It is what is inside the stutterers heart and soul. When two people walk that journey together, no matter how short the time spent, the end result can’t be taken for granted.

It is special. It is important. It is life affirming. It transcends the therapy room. It is the power of stuttering.