<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><span style="font-size: 22px;">Learning F</span><span style="font-size: 22px;">rom The High Wire Walkers </span></div><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">First, they start close to the floor,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">practice walking heel to toe, practice</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">bouncing and turning and gazing </span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">at a distant object instead of looking</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">down at their feet. As the stakes</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and the rope get higher, they </span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">begin to practice failure. Practice</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hanging from the wire for long</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">periods of time. Practice holding</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">their own weight. This. Perhaps </span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">this is what we are doing now </span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">with democracy. Practicing</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">how to hold up our weight. </span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t look down. Don’t look down. </span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">View it all as practice. Trust that balance</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">depends on tension. Trust that</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">every step matters.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer</span></div></div></body></html>