Captain, May I take three baby steps?* As I was reading Keri’s stunning blog post this week about breaking glass ceilings with her new HULK persona (so in tune with this week’s class video, by the way), I was reminded of the childhood game, Captain, May I. In this game, one person is the captain. The other players stand across the yard and call out, in turn, to the captain, “Captain, May I take one giant step?” (or some certain combination of steps and numbers) The captain responds with “Yes, you may” or “No, you may not.” (Or something like that. It’s been nearly fifty years since I’ve played or even thought about playing, so the rules are bit fuzzy.) But if you’re not worrying about the competition of the game, baby steps, giant steps, and even scissor steps will all get you to the other side of the yard. Give yourself permission, and celebrate along the way.
Are you despairing on your journey, because you think you aren’t getting there fast enough? Maybe, like Arielle, you should remember it’s your last day on earth and stop to play with the Lincoln Logs (because that’s really fun!). Or take a few minutes to converse with a family member even if it isn’t earth-shatteringly important. It’s the little things that make a difference in people’s lives. Those baby steps. They turn out to be the most important steps of all.
- Upon further reflection, I think this game was called “Mother, May I?” I suppose you can use any authority figure you want. The concept is similar. As one might expect, Wikipedia has an entry.