Traditional wisdom

"No matter how long the winter, Spring is sure to follow."

—English Proverb

Hope and Joy
photo by Gail Higgins, from whom I also lifted the quoted proverb

See through loving eyes

Alex wrote:

Decide to not hold on to your pessimism. Choose today to be optimistic. Choose to look at the beauty around you and to see life and people through loving eyes.

That is all it takes.

—Alex Polikowsky

The Value of Optimism
photo by Karen James

Living clearly

"A life well lived is one where our motivation for doing what we do is clear in our own minds and hearts."

—Karen James

Be, be, and you will be
photo by Renee Cabatic

Past and Present History

History is where your car came from, and what car you had before that, and how far back in your family it was when they didn't have cars, and what did they use?

History is why people in different places speak different languages. Why are there different accents in different parts of the same countries? Why are they speaking French in Québec and Louisiana? What's with Hawai'i? Why isn't South America all Spanish-speaking? What's with Brazil and Belize? How long did it take to get from Europe to those places back in the day? How long now?

Why are there milestones in Massachusetts? Why are there milestones in England? What the heck is a milestone?

Page 80 or 88 of The Big Book of Unschooling
Some figurative and (photos of) literal milestones
photo by Teresa Phillips

Building a rich life

"What it takes to build a rich life is you — your time, energy, imagination, openness, passion, and optimism." —Claire Horsley

on Always Learning
photo by Rippy Dusseldorp

Learning, becoming, presence

A beautiful response from Pam Sorooshian:

The stated problem:
"With younger kids, there is no opportunity to pursue my own passions."

Pam's suggested solution:

Make becoming a fantastic mom your passion. Make learning all about those kids of yours, your passion. Make having a peaceful and joyful home your passion.

Then you can pursue that while still being fully present with your kids.

One source of that, which leads to another
photo by Sarah S.

Subtle and crucial

When a family doesn't consider learning the primary goal of unschooling, things can disintegrate pretty quickly. YES, once you get it going kids are learning all the time. But if a family starts with the idea that learning is happening all the time, they might never quite get the learning part of unschooling going. And in that case learning will NOT happen all the time. It's subtle but crucial.

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Sandra Dodd, at Always Learning, 2011
quote discovered and revived by Marta Venturini in 2016
photo by Colleen Prieto