Riding the Rapids - Unschooling

A friend shared her first kayaking experience with me the other day. The river was high, recently flooded, and her partner decided it would be a great time to take her out.

She described the first set of rapids they came to as the most challenging - what a way to start!!

With no idea how to navigate them and no time to ask her partner - the currents had quickly pulled him ahead of her - she started to panic.

When he hit the rapids, he capsized. By now it was too late for her to pull out, so she did the only thing she could think to do - surrender.

She let the water pull her along and she simply focused in staying upright. Unlike her partner, she didn't capsized. Not on these rapids, nor the following (unlike her partner).

What was the difference? It was simple - she went with the rapids, he fought against them. It didn't matter that he was twice as strong, or that he could paddle harder. Nature won!

Life has a way of pulling us this way and that. Sometimes we get caught in strong currents - in the forces of nature. It feels scary because we lose control of our situation.

But what if it was ok to lose control sometimes? What if we were meant to let go and allow nature (or life) to pull us along sometimes?

When I look back over the past couple of years, I can see the times I fought the currents and lost. I can also see the times I surrendered and allowed life to carry me along.

Our journey into home-schooling was one of these times.

Oliver was drowning in the school system. He was being asked to navigate waters he never chose to enter. We chose it for him.

When I saw him losing his life force and offered him a rope, he grabbed it with two hands and pulled himself out of there.

I watched as he tested new waters – home schooling, life schooling, wild schooling, unschooling - he knew that this time he had a choice.

When he jumped into the unschooling river, I didn’t have time to question him. If I wanted to be there by his side, the only thing I could do was jump too.

And this is where we are – following the currents, picking up what we need along the way - new friends, mentors, life experiences...

Sometimes we get pulled under and feel like we're drowning.

Sometimes we get stuck in the reeds.

Sometimes our well-meaning friends and family try and throw us a life line.

We wave to them and call out, ‘we’re fine thanks’, because who knows what might be around the next corner?

It might just be the perfect rapid, that gets our hearts racing with adrenaline, and all we can do is scream with joy and surrender.

It wasn't what I'd planned - it's far from it! This was going to be the year that I finished being a stay at home mum (with both children finally at an age to attend school).

After 8 years of being at home with my children, I was excited about diving back into my business, collaborating on new projects, and just having time to myself.

Instead I chose to let go of my visions and allow my children to show me a new way of being, of ‘doing’ life.

I have no idea how things will look around the next corner. The choice to step away from the school system may mean another 12 years of being home with my children.

And do you know how this makes me feel?

GIDDY WITH EXCITEMENT! We made the conscious choice to step into the unknown and this, THIS, makes me feel alive!!!

Unschooling isn’t just about education, it’s a way of life. It’s choosing to live the way you want. It’s choosing to question social norms. It’s choosing to say ‘no’ sometimes.

It’s choosing – full stop!