What in the world do fairies and elves have to do with our intellect? One of the dimensions of wellness includes our intellectual side. When we hear the word intellectual, we often think of people who are highly intelligent or smart people. As an educator, I could really let the stories rip on what we as educators need to, but I’ll save that for another time. As it relates to wellness, the intellectual dimension refers to our capacity to recognize creativity within ourselves and find ways to enhance our personal knowledge, skills and talents (SAMHSA, 2016).
We know that many children today are struggling academically and the achievement gap is widening. Most of us know that healthy students (and adults) are better prepared to learn. I’m a firm believer that we should be educating our children, parents and adults on the importance of health and wellness. Incorporating health and wellness into schools, including mental health, is a growing need and not one we should ignore.
When thinking about this topic, I was reminded of a professor in literature I had back in undergraduate school. I was a freshman and the first day of class, I walked in to an older, skinny man standing on top of his desk. Yes, literally standing on top of the desk. He didn’t say much as we all piled in. Once class started, he (still standing on his desk) look at us and in a whispery voice asked us if we had ever seen fairies and elves while walking around campus. Specifically, he mentioned that we should spend some time looking for them around trees. In fact, he marveled, we should take the time to hug those trees! I double-checked my schedule to make sure I was in the right class and not creative writing or psychology…
That was over 30 years ago and I never really stopped to think about his message. I’m sure others took away a different message, but Mr. Gunter, thank you all these years later! What a great way to show us how to be creative and look at things from a different perspective. Perhaps he shared a unique strategy for expanding knowledge and skills. It seemed very far fetched way back then, but hey, after all these years I still remember that day and his unique way of looking at things.
The next time you are walking in the park or hiking in nature, make sure to hug a tree. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll catch those tiny fairies and elves.