Freedom from Fear
Dear Members of The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,
In a famous Norman Rockwell painting titled "Freedom from Fear," parents tuck their two children into bed. The mother, gingerly bringing the blanket up, has a look of involuntary, unrehearsed tenderness, almost as if she's cooing to them; while the father is more pensive. He holds in his left hand his glasses and a newspaper. Though the viewer cannot read it in its entirety, the newspaper's headline is stark. The headline, referring to the blitz of the Second World War, reads "Bombings Ki ... Horror Hit."
While Rockwell has been criticized as too sentimental, the power of this painting is moving and relevant. It captures the "wound of love" all parents/caretakers experience; it also captures the impulse to shelter children, to raise them free of the fear of the day.
When WSSB parents talk about what drew them to Waldorf education they often mention the "feel," by which they mean the look of the classroom and the manner in which the teachers hold the children. For this "feel" is different than other schools. How to describe the Waldorf "feel"? The words oft invoked are "loving" and "reverent." Some mention the slower tempo. Another way to describe this feel might be to say that it is an attempt to practice a freedom from fear.
At WSSB we strive to not give up on seeing life as good and beautiful and worth our resolute caretaking, no matter what the headline is. And we admit: this ain't always easy! But for the sake of the children, we all might take a cue from 14th century anchoress-mystic Julian of Norwich who lived with war, famine, and a crushing pandemic (the Bubonic Plague) and still famously said, "All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."
In gratitude,
The WSSB Admin Team
PS The painting of the day:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/%22Freedom_from_Fear%22_-_NARA_-_513538.jpg