Category: Nature

First of all, I’m going to cross my fingers that I have not already blogged about this. You see, one of my catch phrases is, “You can learn a lot from a turtle.” Here’s how:

On  my first teaching assignment in Gainesville, Florida, one of my friends had turtles in her classroom. There were four of them sharing a “baby pool” with rocks to climb on and a lamp to represent the sun. She had beach chairs next to this area, and kids loved to watch the turtles. They were so mellow that it could calm even the most stressed out child.

It was also a great place for this occasionally stressed out teacher. I’d stop into her class when I was on break to observe these cooperative creatures. Of course, all of the turtles wanted to bask in the sun, yet they seemed to have a system in place to ensure sharing. Two turtles would occupy the top spots for a period of time. Then at some random moment, they would gently retreat to make room for the other turtles to get their turn enjoying the warmth of the “sun”.

Every time I saw the turtles, they enjoyed life…swimming, eating, “sunning”…And they did it all in such a communal way making sure each member of their group equally enjoyed all their habitat had to offer.

So as I said before, “You can learn a lot from a turtle.” The next time you feel a little greedy or not collaborative, ask yourself,” What would a turtle do?”

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)