New Post on LWOS!
This one was really really hard to write. Mostly my essays about unschooling are pretty organic, and roll from whatever we’re experiencing, but lately I’ve been spending some time thinking of the larger cultural implications of the schooling process, and trying to focus on that. And in the interests of full disclosure, I’m also trying to help out some friends who are still arguing with their spouses about whether or not this is an option for them, and trying to encourage a few artist friends of mine who are struggling to continue to create within a culture that so sorely undervalues them. So this one’s for you, guys.
Awesome post. Although I think that people passing up good violin playing in the subway is a bit more complicated than simply a lack of desire to stop and smell the music, I had a visceral reaction to this as an example of the messages we send our children about where learning and life appreciation happens.
It was a great article Laureen. Looking forward to the next one.
Thanks Tammy! If you go to the article itself and read the comments (and there are a gazillion of them) you end up with a really interesting slice of all the reasons people didn’t stop. I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse; I sort of oversimplified it in order to keep from crying (more). Hearing what people thought were good, valid, justifiable reasons just made it hurt more.
Inspirational essay, Laureen. It really touched me. It altered the course of my day, deepening what I’d already had planned. Thank you for that.
What you wrote reminds me of one of my favourite quotes:
“It is not so much what we are taught, but what we are surrounded by, that determines the course of our lives: the music and poetry and talk, the bright cocoon of life that is woven all around us.” Julie Keller.
I wrote out two lines from your article into my commonplace book, and I’d love to have your last name to credit you with alongside all the other authors of my quote collection. Would you mind emailing me?