Susan Cain
Still Waters in a Storm is one of the most beautiful collectives of human beings I’ve ever seen. It’s astonishing, peaceful, cozy, and intellectually vibrant, all at the same time. On the day I visited, I read from my books, then listened as the children wrote their own stories. Everyone listened to each other in a sacred hush, because that’s what kids at Still Waters are taught to do by their brilliant, loving teacher, Stephen Haff. One girl wrote about feeling too shy to talk on the phone with a grandmother in Mexico she’d never met, then feeling overwhelmed with regret when that grandmother died before they could develop a relationship. One wrote about his responsibilities at home, and also his dreams; another about her mother’s pain at being separated from a baby brother back in Mexico. The children are astonishingly self-aware and willing to express themselves; but even more than that, they are willing to listen. Stephen believes – really believes — that the world would be a different place if people stopped forcing each other to do stuff, and started listening. The entire world hasn’t yet accepted this vision. But this one group of children has. And maybe that is miracle enough.