The Tale of Ben and Betsy
The Tale of Ben and Betsy
November 27, 2018
I’m sure that you are well versed in the history of this great nation of ours. What you may not know is this... Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross were close friends.
They had both traveled abroad in their youth and been introduced to a powerful and health-promoting practice called “T’ai Chi Chih”. As you can imagine, the founding fathers of our country had many long, boring meetings. During a break in one of these meetings, Ben went outside to boost his energy with a few rounds of Joyous Breath. At the same time, Betsy was taking a break from her hard work as a seamstress and was delighted to see someone else practicing the familiar movements. From that day on, Ben and Betsy traveled all over to experience the energy they felt when they practiced TCC. In fact, the term B&B developed from the initials of these companions rooming with friends on their travels and only later came to be known as Bed & Breakfasts.
Here is where the story gets interesting. One day, Ben and Betsy decided to practice in Independence National Park where the Liberty Bell was hung. They had heard that there was going to be a lightning storm and Betsy wanted to see the experiment Ben had told her about in which a key on the end of a kite string sparked when the kite was hit with lightning. He called it “electricity” or something like that. They began the afternoon with their practice, moving softly and continuously through the 19 movements and 1 pose. As they were standing in Cosmic Consciousness pose, a powerful bolt of lightning struck the Liberty Bell and with a thunderous crash it came loose from its casing and smooshed the 2 friends flat as parchment.
Now don’t be alarmed, our heroes may have been flat but they weren’t really harmed. After all, they were filled with chi. The Liberty Bell rolled off of them and the wind picked up. Our flat friends were carried away by the wind and they began to move in ever-widening circles. They floated above Independence Hall where the Bell originally hung. They drifted past the Franklin Institute and even Betsy’s old house where she sewed the first American flag. Round and round they went as they soared over the National Constitution Center with 42 life-sized bronze statues of the founding fathers as well as The Library Company which Ben himself had founded in 1731 so that subscribers could pool their money and access books that none could have afforded alone.
Eventually, the wind subsided and the fabulously flat flyers drifted down to earth at the Free Franklin Post Office and Museum. It was a familiar place since Ben had been the Post Master General there in 1775. Lucky for them, the Post Office is still in use today and a couple modern TCC teachers, Kathleen McAllister and April Leffler, were there to mail out information to fellow teachers who had registered for the exciting 2018 T’ai Chi Chih Teacher’s Conference taking place in Philadelphia in July. Kathleen and April felt a sudden surge in chi. They looked around in wonder and spotted 2 oddly shaped pieces of paper floating to the ground as if moving through heavy air. As they got nearer, they heard 2 soft voices crying, “Help! Help! We’ve been flattened and can’t expand.”
Once they got over their shock, Kathleen and April tried everything they could think of to assist. Nothing worked and everyone was feeling a bit disheartened. After a while, April said, “The wisest and kindest people I know are our fellow T’ai Chi Chih teachers. If anyone can figure out how to expand these 2 and fill them with chi it will be them. They understand how to Flow from Emptiness.” Everyone agreed that this was a fine idea and that surely, April was being guided by chi.
Kathleen and April decided to send Ben and Betsy to 2 different teachers so that they could visit as many as possible. They quickly drafted a letter explaining the story of Ben and Betsy and asking the teachers to take them to chi-full places to see if it would help. They also asked that everyone take pictures of the flattened friends and to let all the TCC community keep tabs on their whereabouts by posting them on social media. They just knew that someone would find a solution and get our founding friends of TCC back to Philadelphia in time for the conference.
Story by: Nikol Price, Surprise, AZ Directions by: Wendy Statuto, Ho Ho Kus, NJ
I’m sure that you are well versed in the history of this great nation of ours. What you may not know is this... Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross were close friends.
They had both traveled abroad in their youth and been introduced to a powerful and health-promoting practice called “T’ai Chi Chih”. As you can imagine, the founding fathers of our country had many long, boring meetings. During a break in one of these meetings, Ben went outside to boost his energy with a few rounds of Joyous Breath. At the same time, Betsy was taking a break from her hard work as a seamstress and was delighted to see someone else practicing the familiar movements. From that day on, Ben and Betsy traveled all over to experience the energy they felt when they practiced TCC. In fact, the term B&B developed from the initials of these companions rooming with friends on their travels and only later came to be known as Bed & Breakfasts.
Here is where the story gets interesting. One day, Ben and Betsy decided to practice in Independence National Park where the Liberty Bell was hung. They had heard that there was going to be a lightning storm and Betsy wanted to see the experiment Ben had told her about in which a key on the end of a kite string sparked when the kite was hit with lightning. He called it “electricity” or something like that. They began the afternoon with their practice, moving softly and continuously through the 19 movements and 1 pose. As they were standing in Cosmic Consciousness pose, a powerful bolt of lightning struck the Liberty Bell and with a thunderous crash it came loose from its casing and smooshed the 2 friends flat as parchment.
Now don’t be alarmed, our heroes may have been flat but they weren’t really harmed. After all, they were filled with chi. The Liberty Bell rolled off of them and the wind picked up. Our flat friends were carried away by the wind and they began to move in ever-widening circles. They floated above Independence Hall where the Bell originally hung. They drifted past the Franklin Institute and even Betsy’s old house where she sewed the first American flag. Round and round they went as they soared over the National Constitution Center with 42 life-sized bronze statues of the founding fathers as well as The Library Company which Ben himself had founded in 1731 so that subscribers could pool their money and access books that none could have afforded alone.
Eventually, the wind subsided and the fabulously flat flyers drifted down to earth at the Free Franklin Post Office and Museum. It was a familiar place since Ben had been the Post Master General there in 1775. Lucky for them, the Post Office is still in use today and a couple modern TCC teachers, Kathleen McAllister and April Leffler, were there to mail out information to fellow teachers who had registered for the exciting 2018 T’ai Chi Chih Teacher’s Conference taking place in Philadelphia in July. Kathleen and April felt a sudden surge in chi. They looked around in wonder and spotted 2 oddly shaped pieces of paper floating to the ground as if moving through heavy air. As they got nearer, they heard 2 soft voices crying, “Help! Help! We’ve been flattened and can’t expand.”
Once they got over their shock, Kathleen and April tried everything they could think of to assist. Nothing worked and everyone was feeling a bit disheartened. After a while, April said, “The wisest and kindest people I know are our fellow T’ai Chi Chih teachers. If anyone can figure out how to expand these 2 and fill them with chi it will be them. They understand how to Flow from Emptiness.” Everyone agreed that this was a fine idea and that surely, April was being guided by chi.
Kathleen and April decided to send Ben and Betsy to 2 different teachers so that they could visit as many as possible. They quickly drafted a letter explaining the story of Ben and Betsy and asking the teachers to take them to chi-full places to see if it would help. They also asked that everyone take pictures of the flattened friends and to let all the TCC community keep tabs on their whereabouts by posting them on social media. They just knew that someone would find a solution and get our founding friends of TCC back to Philadelphia in time for the conference.
Story by: Nikol Price, Surprise, AZ Directions by: Wendy Statuto, Ho Ho Kus, NJ
http://www.taichichih.org/conference-2018/
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