To Soothe The Savage Beast

Have you sat during the previews in a movie theater recently?  We can choose the movie to see, but we can’t choose the trailers.  Often the previews are so violent and over-the-top in sensory stimulation you literally have to cover your eyes at times.  Its so loud you have to cover your ears.  That can be pretty difficult when you are frantically trying to distract the kids you brought along.  Few parents with young teens could find much of value in anything on that screen. If this is the best our movie industry can do…. it is a sad example of our contemporary culture.

Here is something that is a good one for parents of teenagers to consider:  what does your teenager’s cultural diet consist of? Does it overload him with stimulation, ultimately desensitizing him to his feelings and internal self? Or is there a healthy balance?

Say your daughter was not a vegetable eater growing up. A pediatrician counsels to view her diet on a weekly basis, rather than a daily one. This even-keeled approach helps avoid fights that would lead to self-defeating results.  How about taking a similar attitude in regards to many issues in raising kids?   Rather than imposing a complete ban on all cultural influences that could be unhealthy for them, more often go with the flow and make choices and decisions as it seems appropriate.  And without really thinking about it, say, the experience of over-stimulation from a heavy-duty scary movie was more often than not balanced by quiet time.  Over the course of a week, balance was usually achieved because of  kids’ natural interests.

Think about it: what are the activities and experiences that provide a healthy counter-balance to the more worrisome cultural inputs your teen ingests? What might some of those soothing activities be?  Quiet time. Time outside in nature. Spiritual resources and connections are an important part of their diet. Creative activities such as music, painting, writing or reading help quiet the mind and feed the soul.

You probably don’t need to shove this down their throats, but rather acting as “facilitator” you can make sure that they get that float down the river, the hike in the mountains, and the lazy day off.  Leave the i-pod in the car and just take a walk.  Soothe the soul spiritually.

Time outside in nature serves as a major spiritual connection for many of us.  It soothes our psyche and our soul. The miracles that abound there give us peace, perspective and a sense of eternity that reaches us on many levels. Even if your teens are spending time ingesting media you don’t like or understand, you can help them find balance by looking at their spectrum of activities over the course of a week.  Do all that you can to make sure they get a varied diet:  some down time, some time in nature, some creative time, some time to reflect and develop their inner and spiritual world. chrissie