tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post8670392600944176612..comments2023-12-17T05:54:56.396-05:00Comments on I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.: Valuing a Different Kind of EducationIdzie Desmaraishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12782266545123946006noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-29087440080687401402014-11-09T14:10:04.315-05:002014-11-09T14:10:04.315-05:00Thank you for responding Idzie! The regular remind...Thank you for responding Idzie! The regular remindes are key for me, reminders to let go of valuing myself and others for our achievements rather than for our very being. It is HARD, we're swimming against the current all friggin day long!<br />xoxoo<br />Piedadmysticpihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03156788410193897422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-61483179193358679102014-11-09T13:45:35.189-05:002014-11-09T13:45:35.189-05:00And I relate so very much to your comment! I was j...And I relate so very much to your comment! I was just nodding the whole time I was reading it. I, too, deal with a mental illness that makes being part of this capitalist race we're supposed to join very, very difficult, and I've had conversations with loved ones and friends about how much shame we carry because of internalized capitalist ideas. I think I need to have more of those conversations, though. More regular reminders not to fall into the trap of judging myself based on ideas and values I think are super fucked up.<br /><br />Thank you so much for this comment, wishing you all the best!<br />IdzieIdzie Desmaraishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12782266545123946006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-6945486752063138532014-11-09T13:36:35.711-05:002014-11-09T13:36:35.711-05:00Dear Idzie,
I don't have an unschooling or ev...Dear Idzie,<br /><br />I don't have an unschooling or even homeschooling background, but even coming from a different background I relate so strongly to everything that you've written here today.<br /><br />For so many years I have compared myself to others around me who have pursued more traditional 'career' paths; and thought there must be something wrong with me. I have believed that I was not measuring up because I didn't have the 'good job' with the big pay. If those other people with the 'good jobs' were the ones that are successful, then I was a failure.<br /><br />I have worked very hard for many years to understand where this self- judgement and this pain were coming from for me. I have worked to try to dismantle this self-judgement bit by bit, by trying to befriend and love and accept myself as I am. The funny thing is that I have never wanted those conventional lives, but I still managed to carry a lot of shame for not 'measuring up' to our world's standards.<br /><br />For the past year or so I have been part of a mental health peer support group at my university; it has been mind blowing to notice that every week we end up talking about this.<br /><br />All our lives we have been immersed in a culture where our worth is contingent on what we do, not who we are: our ability to produce, to excell and to make money is what counts. We are all steeped in capitalism. Our shame comes from internalizing these measures of worth and measuring ourselves against these standards. When we find that we are not 'measuring up' we conclude that we are not good enough- that there is something wrong with us. This is internalized capitalism.<br /><br />A lot of the pain that all of us in this peer group are carrying is not so much about our mental health experiences but about our inability to join this capitalist race that is happening all around us. I have found this learning so powerful. Knowing that all of us in the room sare these feelings, realizing how deeply ingrained they are, and seeing all the pain and suffering we live with because of this shame that we carry. Somehow being surrounded by others has helped us release some of this shame, and helped us put the onus of our pain where it belongs, in a society that has failed us; a society that oppresses those who are different. <br /><br />The fact that this 'race' exists, a race that only those who are able and privileged can even participate in, creates a pain of exclusion- even when we realize we don't want to be part of it.<br /><br />I think it is true that my own mental health does make certain things difficult for me, I am not able to join this capitalist race- to produce produce, to compete, to excell and be better than others all the time; at least not without compromising my own health. I don't want to be in this race. However, while this offers me an opportunity to live a different way, it automatically puts me at the margins of society. And there is pain in that. <br /><br />What has shifted things for me is to have found (and helped build) a community where we are free and safe to speak of this pain. Where we can, together, begin to heal from it, where we can build our strength and begin to work toward positive change in our world.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />Piedad Martin ~On valuing a different kind of life~<br /><br />mysticpihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03156788410193897422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-17927121533373826372014-11-06T22:32:56.456-05:002014-11-06T22:32:56.456-05:00That was a pretty awesome epiphany. Public Intelle...That was a pretty awesome epiphany. Public Intellectual by way of Unschooling. :)Jamie Maltmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13241519280808826998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-10965292922168444112014-11-06T19:07:21.442-05:002014-11-06T19:07:21.442-05:00I enjoy your writing so much for it's openness...I enjoy your writing so much for it's openness, vulnerability, thought processes!<br />Thank you for considering the issue "Am I Normal and Do I Want to Be?" This is one that I know my kids experience.<br />At this point, John, who is nearly 14, is so cool with being different while my daughter Elizabeth, who is 17 and who is dually-enrolled at the community college, is enjoying her "different" status. She feels very successful there and attributes that success to the fact that her teachers and peers have really embraced her homeschooling background. They have found it interesting and intriguing and have learned from her.<br /><br />I appreciate this post!!!!<br />KarenKarenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03309932952235453461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-35264288018690609842014-11-06T19:04:07.974-05:002014-11-06T19:04:07.974-05:00I am too!!!I am too!!!Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03309932952235453461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8805323468407241809.post-25985654253228632222014-11-05T19:26:23.190-05:002014-11-05T19:26:23.190-05:00I am so touched by the vulnerability, honest intro...I am so touched by the vulnerability, honest introspection, and dead-on content in this piece! As a grown homeschooler/unschooler (some of both? somewhere in between?) who is doing something similar, but different (unschooling in ways that aren't always what i dream of...) with my children, and constantly questioning and re-evaluating my parenting philosophies and practices and my own education, i can relate to every sentence. You didn't think of yourself as a professional? Could have fooled me. I sure thought of you that way ~ and do even more so now! And i will now start thinking better of myself, my children, and our education... and i'll file this away to re-read when needed. Thank you!Trouble McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10663826159420943499noreply@blogger.com