What Robert Fulghum can teach us about Elul

Today is September 15th; it is also 15 Elul, or Tu B'Elul as we would say in Hebrew. On the evening of 29 Elul/September 29, we bid farewell to this year and welcome in the new one. The work we've been doing is preparation for that event. We take it seriously.

Kudos if you've been with me so far on our journey through the jungle, hacking away at the out of control weeds choking new growth. The good news is that we are only 2 weeks away from the New Year, which begins our ten days of intense preparation for the most solemn day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur.

Today, we are going to SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFYour Elul soul-work by getting back to basics, paring down to the most important values for daily life. Rather then coming up with an erudite list of these values, we might instead consider something as simple as the basic list in Robert Fulghum’s book, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."

Remember that book? It's likely been awhile since you've read Fulghum's list. I will remind us:

"Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some
and draw and paint and sing and dance and play
and work some every day.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic,
hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup:
The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody
really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even
the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die.
So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books
and the first word you learned – the biggest
word of all – LOOK."


In other words, to simplify it even further: listen; question; look; be kind; let life amaze you; wonder; stick with your tribe; do your best to face your fears; find the good in yourself and others; look for learning opportunities in every challenge; don't complain so much; and perhaps most important of all, as Fulghum states, "learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day."

We were all taught pre-school that before we cross a street, we should STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN. This, too, is wise advice and part of our Elul soul work.

STOP--take a breath. Don't over react and don't mentally jump to conclusions or assign intentions.

LOOK--what aren't we seeing? What background information might be hidden from obvious view? What might seem obvious from one perspective isn't at all what is happening from a different viewpoint.

LISTEN--If we wish to improve our communication with others and lessen the misunderstandings, we might find increasing our use of these phrases to be helpful:
"That's interesting...
That's possible...
I see you feel strongly about this...
I wonder...
Let's explore possible solutions...
I see you are upset...
What might work for you about..."

After using these phrases, we then, of course, LISTEN. Give others a chance to share their thoughts. Be open to the possibilities without blaming or judging. We might learn something of value, and clear up a misunderstanding before it reaches an irreparable level. We might be very surprised at what we thought was going on and what really happened. There are always at least two sides to every misunderstanding, sometimes even more.

We have two more weeks of Elul in which to stir up our soul's return to wholeness. May our journey be blessed.