When Madison walks in for a session, she can’t stop complaining about yet another friend who has “pissed her off big-time!” This has been going on for weeks.
I give her a look.
“Madi, I can’t help but notice you’ve been getting angry by habit lately. You’re obviously stuck in a rut. No offence, but it’s kind of turning you into a boring and predictable depressing-to-be-around person. I’m guessing you have monkeys in your head.”
She looks at me, defiantly. “Excuse me? I don’t think so! I don’t have monkeys!” Madison is certain.
*beat*
“What’s a monkey?”
I explain to my sweet tween about the meditation term, ‘monkey mind,’ and how, sometimes, it can be a wise move to police our heads. “What we’re thinking isn’t always the truth. Sometimes it’s just blah blah.”
“You choose you mood, kiddo. It’s up to you which of your thoughts you buy into. Some are just not all worth your time of day, trust me. They can just get you stewing for nothing.”
Madison wasn’t totally convinced, but she did seem better by the time she left.
A week passes.
Madison walks back in, this time so cheerful, she could burst. And here’s her news:
“Hey, Les, so I’ve been thinking about what you told me about monkeys. You’re so right. I do have monkeys – batches of them! They do rule my moods! You’re absolutely right! I’ve been paying attention to the inside of my head, and, wow – it’s true! You’ve got to be some sort of genius person! Oh, and also, I think we need a monkey song. We should definitely write a monkey song!”
So, you guessed it. We did.
Fast forward
Now we not only have a studio recorded Monkey tune, we have Monkey units for general education classrooms, Monkey sheet music, Monkey karaoke, even Monkey kits for teachers who want their own flock to enjoy the song and learn not to fret. We also have a Monkey music video that features, you guessed it; Madison!
Thanks so much, Madi, for the inspiration. Oh, almost forgot. We also have two Monkey lesson videos lead by kids themselves. So much Monkey stuff!
I guess it was needed.
