Becoming Real -
“What is real?”asked the Rabbit one day.
“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’
‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’
‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand. Once you are real, you can’t become unreal again. It lasts always.”
—Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
Happy March, yogis! March is my favorite month of the year because it’s my birthday month ?. As I’m welcoming my new age this month, this story feels so perfect to me. I look different from 20 years ago – Skin Horse said it doesn’t matter how you look ?. My body feels different from 20 years ago. I know my strengths and weaknesses more than 20 years ago. I work hard but pause when I need, because I know that’s how I make progress. I still have tendencies to look for approvals or understandings but I’m finally becoming more comfortable with who I am. I’m becoming real through all the experiences whether easy, hard, joyful, or painful. I am becoming more fully who I am. And the child in me feels so good that Skin Horse said that once we are real, we can’t become unreal ?.
I’m a different person and a little more real and authentic every time I share my yoga practice with you, my beloved students. I look forward to spending more time on the mat with you!
Much love,
Shigeko ❤️
