The Sling Diaries, Vol. IV // Everything Shines: Education

I was a kindergarten dropout. For two weeks, I came home every day after school and cried to my parents about not wanting to go back. They drilled me about what was going on and if I was being bullied, or if there was some other reason for my being so upset over school. Nothing could be concluded. I would simply cry and say I didn't like it. I'm so grateful for parents who listened to their children and for a mom who wouldn't force things if they didn't feel comfortable, and who also made incredible sacrifices to take me out of school at that time and teach me herself at home. For the next twelve years, we battled constantly with my educational process. Although I was blessed to spend the majority of my years homeschooling and being outdoors, where I develop and learn best, I was never able to fully embrace that I had to participate in school. By sixth grade, I was convincing my parents to let me do seventh and eighth grade in one year, so that I could graduate from high school early. For the few years I went to an actual school, I ditched class whenever possible and spent my time journaling and reading personal books behind my textbooks, struggling to get passing grades and causing a world of stress for my parents, teachers and myself. I wasn't trying to rebel, I just felt so strongly towards this feeling of constriction and standardization that came with the educational process, and I simply wanted to be away from it.

However my feelings were towards school and education, my feelings towards learning were the exact opposite. I love and have always loved learning, with a passion! It excites me to no end to make new discoveries, expand my vocabulary, or learn the history of an ancient civilization. I'm fascinated by art, biology, anatomy, quantum physics, and enthralled with the whole process of assimilating information. Because of my equal love for learning and dissatisfaction with schooling, I spent many years feeling passionate about the need for education reform. Even after promising never to go to school after my required years were complete, I found myself enrolled at city college in my mid-twenties, with the hopes of getting a degree in education, so that I could help kids like myself find their place within the schooling system. It took two and half semesters before I dropped out and concluded that the system was broken beyond what I thought repairable, and that my true desire was to create an entirely new paradigm for learning. When I became a mother, I realized this was my greatest opportunity for creating that kind of shift. I might not be able to construct a brand new system of education for the entire world, but I can create one for Luna, and nothing is more satisfying or influential than that.

So regarding education, here is your Dad's and my promise to you, sweet little moon. We will make the whole world our classroom and this life we live together will be our beautiful subject. There will be laughter and dancing and seeking knowledge with the highest intent for good. We will learn math while plotting garden beds and science will take place while camping under the stars, music and singing around the nighttime fire. History lessons will come from stories passed down by our elders and we will learn geography as we map-out our great adventures. We will learn Spanish while traveling Mexico and study the art of cultures as we experience them. There are lessons under every rock, knowledge hidden within every tree, and we will seek to fill our lives with the richness of it all! We will make learning exciting and inspiring and most of all, we will learn with you. When challenges arise, we will try something new. We will dig deeper, we will soar higher. We will let you lead the way. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to learn anew, to see the world for the first time again. It is the greatest blessing to be on this journey of learning with you! 

With love from our deepest parts,

Mom & Dad

This post was part of the Sakura Bloom Sling Diaries. We're wearing Luna in the simple linen in lavender. Thank you to my beloved for taking and editing all these photos for us! It was a wonderful day exploring Old Town in San Diego together. And thank you to everyone for following along! Lots of love and hugs from our family to yours.