Camp Creek Blog

you know, when i read this, it hit me on many levels —

one, the doom and gloom in the news, in the internet community, and among many of my friends. historically, there has always been doom and gloom, yet we are still here. not that i want to deny the serious issues plaguing us, but — what *really* helps? not just sitting around moaning. plant a tree — do something. invest in the future you want.

two, homeschooling/unschooling — so often we are moving against society’s tide. there are voices shouting advice (bad or otherwise ;^) and, in the end, we have to listen to our own head and heart and do what’s right for us. enough people thinking the same way, and maybe we can form our own tide.

three, the litanies truly are NOT inspiring — what is inspiring? someone who is living their authentic life. a community garden. an artist. a family. some people who desire change seem to think they can bring it about by bludgeoning us over and over with ever-worse news about what we’ve done to the environment, the economy, our educational system. but we *can* be inspired by someone who has done one small thing to make the world a better place.

same as you, if i’d listened to the negative opinions, i would never have ended up here! don’t pick that major, don’t start your own business, don’t open a school!! there is never any shortage of people who are willing to tell you what you cannot do.

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it badly enough. — Randy Pausch

i agree, helen, that it goes back to those same ideas — and if we have followed our own passions, then wouldn’t we understand and be more willing to support our children to do the same? whereas if we sacrificed our dreams and our authentic selves to follow a more traditional path — because family or society wanted us to — then maybe we are more likely to inflict that same well-meaning pressure on our children. it’s inherited — we just need to choose the right inheritance.

the mary oliver poem is "the journey":

The Journey
by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice —
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do —
determined to save
the only life you could save.

thank you so much, tracy.

barbara, it is wonderful that you have that community!

ellen, yes, i think that truth-tellers who state their strong opinions and their message with optimism and hope and direction is different from the doomsayers who leave you feeling limp and woebegone.

there are too many people grousing and speaking depressing prophecies and not enough people taking positive action, imho!

abbie, thank you so much — and you & yours, too! :^)

thank you, alison ;^)

so true about inertia — and about small changes added up to *big* change.

i’m glad :^)

thank *you*!