We are in a time of great transition, which is reflected by the numerous challenges and hardships people are going through.
It has been said that hardship is necessary for people to grow. Sometimes people use the example of the caterpillar which goes through its laborious transformation to become a beautiful butterfly.
So the premise is that we are presented with challenges so we can rise above them and grow from those experiences.
The one thing I have been struggling with, especially since I have been a parent, is that following that logic, the more challenge and hardship I present to my children and the best and stronger a person they will become.
Not only this is not something I could even do intentionally, but that logic breaks down pretty quickly by just observing people.
It would mean abusing a child for instance will make them stronger. What I see though, seems to be that the more a child is abused and the more chance they end up doing drugs, violence, or worse.
Why schooling a sardine when you can raise a dolphin?
Our children are the future. The best path, to a better society, is to focus on the young and allow our children to express themselves fully.
We have chosen to “unschool” our two young children. Here are some of the reasons for our decision.
First, let's go back to the start. What does school mean? From the dictionary: “a large number of fish or aquatic animals of one kind swimming together”.
Oops, that is one, but you were probably expecting more the following one: “a group of persons who hold a common doctrine or follow the same teacher”.
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
In one way or another we are all in pursue of happiness and success. In order to achieve that we have dreams and set goals.
Sometimes we fall short of reaching them, sometimes we do but feel disappointment because it does not bring us the fulfillment we expected.
In either case, what we missed, is to really understand our true inner desires, that place inside which is us, that place from where all manifestation is possible, finding our bliss.
Society would like to convince us that if we follow the "rules", get an education, a good job, and have a family we will be happy ever after, in short, the dream life.
However as young adults are thrown into active life, it does not take long to realize that not only that is not how life works, but also the education provided by the system at best, will prepare us for real life and at worse totally mislead us on what a happy life is really about. In fact, education has never been designed for that, its sole purpose was to create factory workers.