Unschooling and the Occupy Movement

In a few days I will bring my children to Occupy Vancouver.

The Occupy movement is about decentralization, and Unschooling is a huge part of that, so I want to discuss my thoughts about the whole thing, here on this blog.


WHAT'S THE POINT OF THESE PROTESTS?
We've been widely criticized for not naming a particular gripe or issue, and some are very reluctant to put a name on the movement. But I will attempt one:

*togetherness*

We live in a highly centralized culture, and we are finally feeling the sting of that culture as it eats away at the core values and resources we need for life. We can debate and protest all we want within those diverse smaller issues, but any progress we make will be stifled by the centralized power we exist under. The only solution is to decentralize – which requires a great, massive 'coming together'.

I see it in these 2 terms:
1. We (together) develop a compassionate, conscious society. (So as we 'occupy' the central districts of our cities we put our minds together in peace and begin this journey.)
2. Being together in this way, we show everybody else that it IS possible, and that we CAN make change, and that they ARE welcome (Empower the rest of the world to join us in 1.)

There is already widespread unhappiness with 'the system'. People talk about the 99% taking back the power from the 1%, but I don't see it as being that adversary. The benefit of the occupations is to coalesce, and to reach the 98% who don't realize they're a part of the 99%. If 99% truly stepped away from the trap we live in, the 1% would probably join us, too. It's all about togetherness, as I said. Things like democracy, equality, and understanding cannot be reached without togetherness.
 

DECENTRALIZATION:
I think we're already making great strides in decentralization. If we can tackle the issues of openness, then other movements will just pick up speed, such as these, for example:

Education:
Unschooling, and other methods of decentralized learning and living are increasingly popular, with communities growing all over the world where progressive thought and action can flourish. My kids are completely unschooled, and have been for 3 years, now. The number of unschooling families joining us seems to grow exponentially, and the large conferences of like-minded unschoolers seem to be growing, too.
And for this reason I think it's essential that we allow our children to occupy our cities, too. It's their future, and they should be a part of it.

"Free children are not easily influenced; the absence of fear accounts for this phenomenon. Indeed, the absence of fear is the finest thing that can happen to a child."

~A. S. Neill     Summerhill School

Healthcare & Food:
There is a growing movement of decentralized food (local food, homegrown food, raw food, unmedicated food, small farms, raw milk, etc. etc.) This is the beginning of what will hopefully be a complete overhaul of 'the system', and reach its arms out to encompass and encourage the healthcare system, as we all head for the care we need, as opposed to the care that the government pays for. Much of that happens outside the hospitals, and I think we're a much more educated society than we were a few decades ago; more of us know how to look after ourselves, and healthcare gets decentralized as we become less dependent upon the hospitals to care for us.
Although I don't support privatizing healthcare, the freedom to choose our care (or not) will give new ideas and technologies space to grow.

Finances:
The Occupy movement, among others, is working towards educating the masses about the effects of consumerism, capitalism, and living beyond our means, allowing us to take responsibility for the way we live, and to live in a way that our finances (and health and environment) can sustain. If we take out loans to buy houses we cannot afford, then we have nobody to blame but ourselves. The banks do, indeed, capitalize on this, but it is our choice whether or not we give them our money in the first place. I hope that the predicted real estate and financial crash will quickly encourage new forms of investment (like maybe social?!)

Media:
Who writes the history books? Who shapes the past and the future? Occupy movements are also a perfect example of how the centralized media are not working for us, and how we can make our own, decentralized news-sources. We've made them already: Social Media.
As we render useless the current systems (mainstream media, etc.), copyright issues and other such problems will sink away in an open-source social system where we all have voices, and the right to know anything we choose.

My friend published this very informative interview on her blog. It almost says more about the current state of traditional and social media than it does about Occupy movement. (And she transcribed it! Thanks, Alison!):  Chris Hedges and Keven O'Leary on CBC


VIOLENCE?
Not so impressed, really.
There is, to me, little point in marching through districts where the super-rich live, or in using combative language/behaviour against those who seem not to support us. We are in this together, and in the end we want those who are now against us to feel welcome in our new reality. Further, we can't forget that each individual police officer, polititian, and CEO is also a part of the 99%. It will be a beautiful day when they begin crossing the line they draw.


WHAT ABOUT MY ISSUE?
Most of us have one or a handful of big issues that we've been concerned about for a long time: salmon, indigenous rights, education, food freedom, financial integrity, etc. etc. And all of these things are important. So bring them! But remember that this is about decentralization, so we don't want to centre our attention on one issue. We need to forge this change from the top down. We must co-create a new human policy, and then we will all bring our issues to the fore, and talk about them as humans with a common interest of finding peace and equality.

Iceland recently had a revolution (if you didn't know, don't be alarmed; neither did most of us! It wasn't covered by most mainstream media.) The people reclaimed their power, and wrote their own constitution, collaboratively, transparently, online. When Canadians reach that point, that will be the time to hammer out the details that concern our many separate issues.


IS THIS DEMOCRATIC? ANARCHIST?
Yes!!! This is where we break free of our definitions and find a new reality.
I think that the ideas of those people who don't believe in democracy will be instrumental in our communal development of a new definition of open-source, communal governance. Maybe it won't even be called democracy. The whole notion of democracy implies that there are other ways. I think when there is true agreement, we won't be pitting our various viewpoints against each other but will instead have a new way of conversing.
Surely there will be plentiful disagreement, but our progress depends upon our finding harmony.


US vs. THEM:
There's no point. We are gathering not to accuse or to blame, but to find better avenues for conscious living. What this does is give us the chance to be together, to share, to support, and to make change. Ultimately we make the changes in our own individual ways, but in doing so, and in community, we encourage and empower others to do the same.


WHY THIS MOVEMENT IS STRONGER IN THE US THAN IN CANADA:
Quite simply, because we're not in such dire straits – yet. But I think the sense that we could be is growing urgently, especially as we watch our federal government wheel us closer and closer to US policy, culture, and affiliation. We need to reclaim our voice and power, before they take us too far over that threshold.


PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS:
So my family is making changes. Arguably, we've been making them slowly, for a long time, as we've chosen to eat organic and local food, drink raw milk, unschool our children, participate as a whole family in community changes and events, not give Christmas gifts, and garden. But feeling the support of the Occupy movement, we've now extended the no-gift-giving to the rest of our family members, telling them that we will not be giving gifts this year, and will refuse to accept any. We're assessing our options for going fully off-grid (not wanting to be dependent upon a hydro company that has no interest in its' customers' wishes), and we're cashing in our savings, paying off our debts, and going credit-free. We're also considering changing banking institutions, to support our tiny local credit union. We've stopped attending classes that require us to drive across the island every week, and now that our children can ride bikes, we can do more outings by bike, making our gas-powered vehicle less and less necessary. And we intend to raise chickens, sustainably.

Getting out of the system is REALLY scary to some of us. (No hydro? No schools? No Superstore?) But if we work together we can find ways to develop the new communal/open-source infrastructure we need.

"The solution's here! The solution is public understanding! The solution is explaining the difference of the 99% and the 1%. The solution is to explain practically what can be done!

What we need right now is a massive social understanding. It's starting here; it's spreading around the country."

~Jeffrey Sachs

So the actual gathering -- the Occupation -- works by bringing people together. It's a place where we can share ideas, support each other, and also be a beacon for those who need a light to follow. Hopefully it will continue to spread online, to reach those who don't live in the large metropoli. And most importantly, it makes the issue visible, so that people can see the potential for change, and can realize that they, too, are part of the 99%.

Join as you are; know that we all have our own causes, and let us be one voice for humanity.

Unschooling Movie

Vitus

I watched it many years ago, before I knew what unschooling was, and then I thought it was a beautiful story of a brilliant boy who had to circumvent his parents' efforts at steering his life, because they just didn't understand. Tonight I watched it with my son. I was wracked with guilt at seeing the parents trying as I have to shape and direct their son, when really all he needed was to be left alone. At a bathroom break, my husband confirmed that it was a good thing we were watching this again. And throughout the movie, my son continually wiped tears from his eyes. At one point I wiped one off for him. He said it wasn't a tear; it must have been water from my finger. And I said "it's OK to be sad."
"I'm not sad!"
"Or happy..."
"I'm not happy!"
"OK then", I said, "but for whatever reason we sometimes feel emotional or just randomly find tears falling out, and it's OK. It's normal. You don't have to hide it".
I said then, "Do you just wish I'd shut up right now?"
He smiled. "Yes but not so rudely."

During the credits, I asked what everybody thought about the movie. Rhiannon said "nice!" and Tal said "it's so real."

This is one of those movies that we all need to watch. It says so much about acceptance and individuality, but mostly about parenting: our need to let our children be who they are in every moment.

Inspired!

I'm feeling so inspired, today! I still have lots of work to do sifting through the summer's activities and posting here, sending stuff I promised to people, etc etc. but...

Somebody I only faintly know announced yesterday that she'd pulled her son from school and will be unschooling. This sent me on a brain-journey, back through the choices we've made, I re-watched Ken Robinson's second talk, talked to my husband about it, and started to feel the joy of our existence a little more, again. We are SO blessed. We live in a community of many varied people, most of whom are kind, compassionate, and forward-thinking. We have the ability to stretch out into the forests, oceans, and cities, and to allow our children the freedom of their imaginations. It's just so lovely to sit in this dream and revel it, once in a while!!

"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, enwrought with gold and silver light, of blue and the dim and the dark cloths, of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet. But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet. Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams."
~WB Yeats

"And every day, everywhere, our children spread their dreams under our feet. And we should tread softly."
~Sir Ken Robinson

Is Unschooling For You?

I absolutely love this post by Radio Free School -- so much I added it to the sidebar!

http://radiofreeschool.blogspot.com/2011/09/is-unschooling-for-you.html

If you've ever asked yourself this question, or are now wondering if you should.... go read it!!!

Flying

Home!

When we got on the ferry the cool ocean air wrapped us in comfort and pulled us home. It was an amazing trip -- so amazing that we're all quite overwhelmed, when we try to tell people about it. We visited volcanoes, deserts, ocean, rainforests, cold and warm climates, friends, family, historic and natural sites of huge interest and value; we saw different cultures and places and ways of existing. We existed with and for each other, and became different, in ourselves. We traveled so far in our good and trusty vehicle that the days were noticeably shorter and the world seemed like a different place. But that same trusty vehicle brought us home again, and when we got here, we fell right back into the manic existence we'd left behind.

But we're changed. We have a memory that time cannot remove. We have experiences shared just with the four of us, and for us that's very unique. This trip is like a large crystal, scratched and hauled from the dirt, peered into and appreciated for all its cracks, surprises, and inclusions. It looks different every time we try to remember. But the constant is togetherness, and joy in that togetherness. And joy in coming home, together.

When we got home, the kids hurried, without a word, to gather and create gifts for Fathers' Day. Within an hour, we'd begun to reclaim our house from emptiness (and from the smell of the long-dead rat in the office), and the kids had prepared this for Markus:

Pretending to Fly

The last day of our trip was a quick drive from Fife, Washington, home to our island. And it was Fathers' Day! So we stopped at the Museum of Flight.

Airplane wings apparently have great acoustics for drumming.

Wow.

Even more wow.

(build build build)

Shoulder check!

Finally!! A plane trip!! Pappa wishes planes really had this much room for feet...

Never mind that. Tal blasts off undercover.

Shasta

Another day of driving -- 12 hours, in fact. But we started early with the intention of hiking around somewhere near Mt. Shasta, and what a good thing we did!!

Pit Bridge over Lake Shasta

We'd been driving for many hours the day before, watching Mt. Shasta in the distance. Finally we got close enough to see the ridges.

And Castle Crags.

And Black Butte! We'd seen it on Google Satellite, and this was one of our goals.

So we pulled into a garbage dump at the foot of it to have a look around.

Not quite pumice, but Tal was so excited about the tossable rocks that he collected a rather large one.

We grownups collected some enormous and rather lethal-seeming (should they fall on one's head) cones from a sugar pine.

Then we came to Weed. If you judged them by their most prominent tourist shop, Weed is all about pot-humour. But we found the real gem, a little further along: The Community Centre.

It's an open-plan building, with various shops and community facilities, with an assortment of people hanging out, doing what they do. This is Josh Kaufman. He asked about our car, and whether we'd like to see his art: it's a digital-kinetic fractal sculpture. Then he interviewed me for his project about personal religion, and we stood around talking for quite a while.

We wanted to collect some nice pumice, so Josh and a couple of others at the Community Centre directed us to a spot along the road, just a few miles out of town. Upon exiting the car, we were greeted by this enormous double sundog, shining over Mt. Shasta.

... and also by this tiny lizard, who seemed rather curious about us.

Heading out, we passed Table Rock, though this photo doesn't do it any justice.

Travel-Weary

Today we had an 11-hour drive, but stopped for gas an a popsicle somewhere under a lone palm.

Goodbye land of palm-trees!

Animals in Cages

That's all I'm going to say about it. Rhiannon was home sick with a fever; I was busy interviewing and spending much-needed time with my family, and so Tal and Markus went alone to the San Diego Zoo. It was very educational, in many ways, and they enjoyed themselves, too.

San Diego!

We spent two days with Aunt Mimi, Uncle John, and my cousins Starry and Pan. It was wonderful just to get to know them a tiny bit (and really with only 1.5 days together, it was a TINY bit). We weren't with them nearly long enough, but it was a start. Hopefully we planted seeds for more visits in future. They live on a mesa in San Diego overlooking a steep gorge, and a highway. We camped in their backyard, and Aunt Mimi made us wonderful meals, including a taco feast. In the end, just to be nice and modern, we all friended each other on Facebook. (My Craziness that is a weird thing to type!)

Pan introduced us to the cat, known to her as Rufus, and to Mimi as Mr. Scruff Puff. He likes belly-rubs a LOT.

Rhiannon spent most of the time there with a reasonably high fever, wrapped in one of great Grandma's afghans, and listening to Aunt Mimi's collection of children's records.

La Brea Pits

On Suki's excellent advice we went to see the tar pits, and happened right into a tour of the various locations of the actual tar, where it seeps up from underground. Apparently people from the surrounding area call the museum once in a while, asking them to "get your tar out of my yard", etc. It's an oil-deposit -- a site where thick black oil has been naturally bubbling up for many many millenia. It's not going to stop any time soon, I expect. And we got to see the results of about a hundred years of digs: fossils, bones, history. Very very interesting.

It just looks like a soft spot on the soil; maybe an old campfire. But when you step on it it squishes under your shoe. It's oil. It's the beginning of a new oil seed.

Eventually it may look something like this one, a little further into the park, and fenced off quite thoroughly.

Some floating statues illustrate the miserable deaths of the many many animals who perished, here.

And now their bodies are exhumed, bit by bit,

...and cleaned, studied, classified, preserved,

...and sorted.

For our learning pleasure.

The displays are really amazing.

This is the skeleton of a ground sloth.

And they put on a great bit of sabre-tooth drama for us, as well.

We got right in the belly of the thing, as it were...

We all agreed that, for the money spent (less than half the cost of the San Diego Zoo or the Monterey Bay Aquarium), the La Brea Tar Pits was definitely the best paid-for attraction we saw on this trip.