writing it down.

Why do it?

I guess it's because
if you don't write it down
tell it to your neighbour
plant it in the ground
it all just slips away

which is where
it's going anyway
but we want, at least
to feel some friction.

by Vaughan Gunson

And so I have made a return to writing. I have missed it but then again didn't miss the time inside in front of the screen nor the stream of late night writing sessions.

To make a return is somewhat of a relief.
During my years as a mama of younger children, imagining the life I wanted to cultivate for our family and consuming books on non-coercive parenting and living without school, I stumbled upon a few blogs on the internet.

I remember coming across Miranda's blog; it was like finally finding an ally as well as a mentor all rolled into one. She had older children and seemed to deeply trust them. She enjoyed the fabric of their days together and wrote about learning in a way that made sense to me. I drank deeply from her well of experience at that time.

Lori's blog was one of those early touchstones too.

In the beginning reading these blogs helped me build belief and confidence in my vision for my family and our learning journey. What their days looked like resonated more with me than anything I could see in my daily life. Without their writing I may have made a different decision and I'm so glad I didn't.

I love the place my family is right now. Our lifestyle reflects our deepest values: that our youngest citizens have the right to freedom in childhood; that deep, meaningful relationships are more important than any well-meaning curriculum statement; that healthy communities depend on these deep rich relationships; that authentic experiences grow stronger people than those experiences that are contrived and that children with a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationship with the Earth will be better prepared to face future challenges.

A lifestyle in step with your values is deeply satisfying; there is a peace that comes with such a good fit.
That is all to say that I am deeply grateful to those people who have written words that have given me the courage to remain true to my own path and now I write to add texture and depth to the larger collective human story.
To write it down is to somehow claim a little space in this collective story if not for anything other than to, in the words of Vaughan Gunson in the poem above, "create a bit of friction."
Today was a good day; it didn't rain which gave us a bit of a head start on some other days this week and it was our dear Charlotte's first birthday. The party was a hit and they all the babies had a ball although Charlotte needed a long nap in the afternoon after all the hooplah. Ruby's birthday card to Charlotte read "I love you. Thank you for the magik I have got now."

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I'm posting over at lyttel-town blog again too... yep, riding the writing wave while the surf's up you might say. Local, grassroots community regeneration Lyttelton style and nice clip on cultivating gratitude originally found here.