The wonderful thing is that man’s movements are not fixed and limited like those of the animals, but he can decide upon and choose those he will learn. There are animals with special gifts for climbing, running or swimming, but man has no such gifts. Instead, he has one gift only, that he can learn them all, and do them better than the animals!
But such versatility depends on work. They cost him the effort of much repetition; of “practicing,” and in the course of this the muscles come to act in unison, because the nervous interconnections have an unconscious way of finding the needed harmony, given an initiative provided by the will.
In reality, no one ever acquires all the muscular powers of which they are capable. Man is like a person born to enormous wealth, so rich that he can only use a part of his inheritance, but he can choose which part he will use at his pleasure. A man may become a gymnast by profession, but it does not follow that he was born with muscles of any special kind. Neither is the professional dancer endowed with muscles suited specially for dancing. The gymnast and the ballerina develop themselves by force of will. Everyone, whatever he may want to do, has such a wide range of muscular powers that he can choose and set himself a course. His mind can propose and direct his development. Nothing is preordained but everything is possible. It is only necessary for his will to collaborate.
It is not in human nature for all men to tread the same path of development, as animals do of a single species. Even if many people cultivate the same art, each goes about it in a slightly different way. We see this in writing. Though we can all write, each has his own handwriting. Every human personality has its own way of doing things.
The nature of a person’s work is betrayed by his movements. For his work is the expression of his mind – it is his mental life – and this has access to a whole treasury of movements, which develop in the service of this – the central and directive – part of his inner being. Should a man fail to develop his whole musculature, or – as sometimes happens – should he develop only those muscles needed for heavy physical work, his mind also will stay at this low level at which his movements have remained. Thus a person’s mental life may be restricted by the type of work open to him, or preferred by him. The mental life of anyone who does not work at all is in grave peril, because although it is true that all the muscular powers cannot be used there is a limit beneath which it is dangerous for those in use to fall. When reduced below this, a person’s whole life is weakened. This is why gymnastics and games have been made a compulsory part of the school curriculum. It prevents too great a part of the muscular system from falling out of use.
Montessori, Maria. The Absorbent Mind: From the original paper archives by M. Montessori, in partnership with AMI - ASSOCIATION MONTESSORI INTERNATIONALE (The Montessori Series Book 1) . Montessori-Pierson Publishing House. Kindle Edition.
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