Learning All the Time

This was in my e-mail inbox this morning. It describes my view of life and learning pretty accurately. It's a wonderful thing to know that you can learn whenever, whatever, and however you want. The prospect fills me with a joy and excitement that I want to share with everyone. This life of learning is better than any single school could ever be, and the only enrollment requirement is to be alive!

A Life of Learning - Earth School

Life is the province of learning, and the wisdom we acquire throughout our lives is the reward of existence. As we traverse the winding roads that lead from birth to death, experience is our patient teacher. We exist, bound to human bodies as we are, to evolve, enrolled by the universe in earth school, an informal and individualized academy of living, being, and changing. Life’s lessons can take many forms and present us with many challenges. There are scores of mundane lessons that help us learn to navigate with grace, poise, and tolerance in this world. And there are those once-in-a-lifetime lessons that touch us so deeply that they change the course of our lives. The latter can be heartrending, and we may wander through life as unwilling students for a time. But the quality of our lives is based almost entirely on what we derive from our experiences.

Earth school provides us with an education of the heart and the soul, as well as the intellect. The scope of our instruction is dependent on our ability and readiness to accept the lesson laid out before us in the circumstances we face. When we find ourselves blindsided by life, we are free to choose to close our minds or to view the inbuilt lesson in a narrow-minded way. The notion that existence is a never-ending lesson can be dismaying at times. The courses we undertake in earth school can be painful as well as pleasurable, and as taxing as they are eventually rewarding. However, in every situation, relationship, or encounter, a range of lessons can be unearthed. When we choose to consciously take advantage of each of the lessons we are confronted with, we gradually discover that our previous ideas about love, compassion, resilience, grief, fear, trust, and generosity could have been half-formed.

Ultimately, when we acknowledge that growth is an integral part of life and that attending earth school is the responsibility of every individual, the concept of "life as lesson" no longer chafes. We can openly and joyfully look for the blessing buried in the difficulties we face without feeling that we are trapped in a roller-coaster ride of forced learning. Though we cannot always know when we are experiencing a life lesson, the wisdom we accrue will bless us with the keenest hindsight.

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In Case You Were Curious

Here's a glimpse at some of what we've been up to since I last blogged here.I got a new car! We went skiing with cousins in Maine.
We visited Grandpop in NY.
We celebrated Uncle Joe's birthday with him in CT.

We went to Dave & Buster's for the first and second time ever while in NY. What a fun place! I wish we had one close to us.

We colored Easter eggs.

We hung out with some of our unschooling friends at the park and Jump-N-Slide.

We got a new orange tree from my parents as a memorial to Chuck's mom.

We enjoyed the bounty of the garden Chuck gave me as a birthday gift. Sweet!

Our unschooling friends visited us from AZ, and we joined them for a quick trip to Disneyworld.
We enjoyed seeing our son's band, Horizons, perform at Hot Topic. Too bad the police came and said that they could only play without amps. They only got to play 3 songs.
We sent our son Tom, his girlfriend and their friends to their prom in a limo!

We continue to lead very full and fun lives here in Florida, and we're looking forward to even more! Wishing you a life full of fun too. ;)

Open the Door to Joy in 2009!

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove



:: Is Joy Knocking On Your Door? ::



She knocked on the huge palace door. The peepholecover slid open, revealing the grim face of thepalace guard. "Who goes there?"



"I am Joy," she answered with a smile, "I'm here tovisit the Queen."



The guard shut the peephole abruptly. A few minuteslater, it slid open again and the guard said, "TheQueen is upset because her children are misbehaving.You may not enter until conditions improve."



"But I bring good tidings, and if she would let mein, the children would surely abandon their mischief."



"Sorry," the guard grumbled, "I must do HerMajesty's bidding." Then he locked the door and left.



But Joy did not leave . . . She just kept knocking.



Today, if you feel upset for any reason, askyourself this: "Am I using these conditions as anexcuse to disallow my natural state of well-being?"
Decide that when JOY knocks on *your* door,you'll let it in... no matter what the conditions!



http://dailygroove.net/unconditional-joy
--> Get "The Daily Groove" book! http://www.enjoyparenting.com/book
Feel free to forward this message to your friends!(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)Copyright (c) 2008 by Scott Noelle

Video Fun by My Son

It's a Webkinz World!

We went to our local Hallmark store two days in a row this week for the special give-away of a free Webkinz for every purchase of ten dollars or more. For us, that meant buy one Webkinz, get one free! This was all part of Webkinz celebrating their two year anniversary. (If you haven't heard of them yet, or don't really know what they are, check them out here.)


My kids only started collecting Webkinz about seven months ago, but there were birthdays and quite a few holidays since then. That made gift giving pretty easy for some, and the collection of Webkinz grew by leaps and bounds. This is the most recent picture of the whole gang:


These little critters have lots of adventures, on-line and in real life. They've all enjoyed bouncing on the trampoline with my kids, and in the picture above they were getting ready for their guided tour of our house. The last two days have been all about Webkinz fashion. Two of my children and their friend created many new fashions for their animals, using scrap material, tape and safety pins. A runway was constructed from a game box lid elevated by potholders, and of course there was music to accompany the models. My husband and I got to be the judges. We had a slip of paper on which we had to write our score for each constestant and then hold it, as if on a TV show. Their creativity was inspiring! They crafted ties, hats, belts, sashes, "tail veils", vests, capes, and more! Here are two of the contestants:


At first I couldn't see the appeal of Webkinz, but thanks to my kids, I now see that Webkinz are much more than just another line of cute stuffed animals. To my kids, these toys are some of the many raw materials they use in their never-ending, often surprising, creative approach to enjoying life (and coincidentally learning too!)

Delightful Day at Disney

We joined some friends of ours who were visiting from Arizona for a day at DisneyWorld. It was the best day we have ever had there. Typically, I dread the crowds, the heat, and the stress of trying to remain "centered" in such an overstimulating environment.

This time, though, the crowds were manageable. The weather was delightful, and my kids are old enough to not need a stroller. It was relatively easy to get around. I couldn't believe that we actually got to see everything we wanted, and even went on several rides more than once! I may even consider going to a theme park again. :)

Angelica's first time on Splash Mountain. She also conquered Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain all in one day, which is a pretty big deal for someone who previously feared the "kiddie coasters". ( There is much to be said for allowing our children to try things in their own time and their own way, but that could be a whole 'nother post!)

Joseph in his Goofy hat, waiting to see Monsters, Inc. show. We didn't end up seeing the show because Joseph changed his mind. He much preferred to go on rides with his friend. He had a blast blasting aliens on the Buzz Lightyear ride. It's like being inside a video game, where you ride a spaceship through and use your laser-gun to shoot at all the targets. I really liked it too, until my trigger thumb got tired. ;PAngelica and her friend with their faces painted, Genie and a butterfly.

While nature certainly isn't the main attraction at Disney, we were happy to see quite a few birds that enjoy all the commotion there. This little guy and his friends flew into the bushes right behind where I was sitting for a few moments. They were making all kinds of noise and jumping around like the groups of children throughout the park who couldn't wait to get to the next attraction. Then there were the great white egrets who kept eyeing our lunch as we watched the passengers on Splash Mountain come down the chute. We also got to see a group of sweet baby ducklings with their momma. Those sightings were just the dose of "reality" I needed to enjoy the day as much as I did.