Hello beloved blog readers,
I’ve been so quiet on here for such a long time. The season of my life for the past few years has left me feeling much more quiet than I’ve been in previous versions of myself.
But just now, I found myself coming up for air, and feeling a desire to reach out and connect, so I’m taking the opportunity before I go back under the waves for however long.
We are in year 4 of homeschooling our children, who are now in 6th and 3rd grade. When the world fell apart last March, we were at a decided advantage for our school life to encounter very little disruptions, apart from extracurriculars. The more we do school the less value we seem to see in the traditional approach to education, and the more and more we start to dance with the idea of unschooling (a term I strongly dislike but will use for lack of a better substitute). We have figured out that we want to lead our children with guiding principles and values, and we want them to be wildly curious and willing to venture out into the world to tinker with things and simply figure stuff out. It’s a crazy departure from how our nation believes children should be taught, and it’s a far cry from the way either one of us grew up learning, but here we are, walking into this great unknown, and just praying that we are doing right by our kids. I think we are.
My husband began working from home in mid-March (he’s still working from home, and his Zoom meetings are a background noise I’ve become accustomed to). We’ve had tons and tons of quantity time together, but not nearly enough quality time. I think perhaps we aren’t the only family who feels so very close, and yet in some ways, still disconnected. Some days are better than others. It ebbs and flows, just like everything else.
Over the past few years, I have struggled to understand and gain control over my anxiety, and I’ve also made some great headway in that department, thanks to seeing a therapist and accepting help from anti-anxiety medication (something it took me many MANY years to be willing to try). And we’ve grappled with the emergence of auto-immune disorders (many of you will understand how vague and confusing these diagnoses can be).
And the state of our country has shaken us again and again, and put strains on many relationships we have with loved ones. I keep trying to show up and understand perspectives other than my own. And I keep being completely knocked over by how threatened facts seem to have become. It makes me want to crawl under the covers and hide. And I’ve done plenty of that in the last few years, for good or for ill.
Most of my time is spent being a reference librarian for the kids, and helping to connect them with whatever resources they need to learn about whatever it is they want to learn about. I do occasionally substitute teach middle school, which I find to be very enjoyable, and I have a growing love for thrifting and antiquing, sometimes for my own personal use, and sometimes to resell for a profit.
Since my interests have pulled away from showcasing the latest and greatest products for busy parents, and since I’ve been doing more listening and less talking over the last few years, I’ve pulled away from blogging. I think part of the reason why is because the push to have magazine worthy photography, coupled with intense search engine optimization in order to maximize pageviews just doesn’t speak to me right now. I crave more authentic connections, and I’m interested in things that don’t necessarily translate to splashy photos and lots of sales.
But I’m realizing that one of the great things about owning this little corner of the internet is that I can choose to do with it whatever I want. I don’t have to create pinnable images every time I have something on my heart that I’d like to share with you. I don’t have to try to rank on Google for a search term just because it’s something I want to share with you that day. And what a relief it is to let go of that pressure!
So I will try to come back on here from time to time, and just share with you things that are making my life better right now. And I would very much love to have you chime in whenever the inspiration strikes, because the connection is where the treasure is, not the pageviews.
I’d love so much to hear about how you are doing. What has the past year been like for you? Any new interests?
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