Reflecting on RE 2010

We rethought everything this past weekend at the Rethinking Everything Conference in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex of Texas.  This was our 3rd year attending the collossal gathering of rethinkers including, but not limited to, unschoolers.  I can honestly and quite exuberantly declare it the absolute best yet.  Though the content of the conference has not changed much over its 14 years, the name now reflects the depth and variety of the conference sessions and the intensity of conscious intention, living, and creation of the speakers.  Attendees are rocked in any number of ways as we continue to question and analyze cultural and societal messages, norms, and ideals.

Chris and I conducted a number of sessions and even added an impromptu session by request for those new to unschooling and conscious, connected parenting or just wanting to discuss any number of parenting and/or education related issues.  We met so many interesting, supportive, conscious people that we are thrilled to now call our friends.  Guess what?  So did the kids!

While all of these amazing ‘adult’ sessions were weaving and overlapping throughout the days and evenings, so were there countless activities for kids of all ages.  The kids (we joined them quite often as well) partook of Kid Village (a great big room filled with lots of toys, games, and activities), shaving cream sculptures (which led to body painting with the stuff), swimming, take-apart electronics, crafting magic wands and recycled jewelry, face painting, the Lego/Bionicle room (yes- a whole room FULL!), fairy house building, letter boxing, Ga-Ga ball playing, sewing/fashion creating, dress-up, science experiments, World of Warcraft and video game playing, and MORE!  They re-connected with local and distant friends and made lots of new ones.

We’re already rethinking so much that it was wonderful to be in a place of such support and excitement about our lifestyle and changes.  But the rethinking never really ends, does it?  Chris went to John Strelecky’s (best-selling author and dynamic speaker) session entitled, “How to Travel the World on $40 a day” and is now super-inspired, excited, and firmly entrenched in the reality of trading the RV in for backpacks at some point and taking our adventures around the world.  I went to two sessions conducted by Raymond Francis, author of “Never Be Sick Again”, and was both thrilled and shaken to discover even more information about the food we eat that will affect the evolution of the food we choose for ourselves and our family.  The first thing to go was cow’s milk.  We made the switch to almond milk right after the conference and are not looking back.  No, thank you Dairy Council.  Chris and I both attended Rupert Isaacson’s session following up on his book/documentary, “The Horse Boy”, which has us considering and appreciative of the dramatic rise in children who see the world differently- through the lens of autism, ADD, ADHD, hyper-sensitivity, and every other label that is handed out because a child differs from the collective, understood, manipulable standard. 

Chris and I both stepped out a little more as well which was challenging and fun.  I did a session about being in control of our own health and Chris headed up an unschooling dads’ rock band!

As always, some of our most impactful moments were spent in hallways, around the campfire, over beer, and lounging on the couches.  It’s truly the connection with other people who seek to know themselves over the norm that bolsters our spirit and adds more threads to the weave which grows stronger and more conscious by the day.  We LOVE RE!  Below are some pictures of the event.  It’s really just an overview as my camera spent most of its time in my bag as I was so busy living each moment that photographing them became secondary.

 

Wherever We Go, There We Are

Where are we now?

We left Quintana Beach 2 days ago and dropped off our home on wheels at American Greenfuels for the vegetable oil conversion.  We’ve been thinking about and planning the logistics of this, it seems, for so long now that it’s very surreal that we’re actually doing it.  Our RV will run on waste vegetable oil from restaurants saving us money and dramatically decreasing our travel emissions.  Wow.  We’ll be taking photos and Chris will be describing the process when all is said and done over on his blog. 

I’ll blog Quintana Beach when I get back to the RV computer and the pics therein .  We’re currently staying at the home of our friends Kelly and Josh Quinn while the dogs have gone to Le Spa Du Barb (aka the home of our friends Barb and Steve Lundgren) as we visit and prepare for the upcoming Rethinking Everything Conference.  We’ve been able to make ourselves very comfortable here in their small home with their family of five.  We’ve all been chatting about the upcoming conference, stocking up on snacks for our families for the conference, preparing our volunteer work, items to sell at the kids’ and vendor fairs- all in the midst of living life- doing the regular income-creating work, cooking and preparing food, playing with the children, etc.  I have to admit that I was a little concerned about how we’d get on all living in the same house for three days.  There are five children involved here - three who are sharing their home turf and two others who are out of theirs.  It’s been no different than our average playdate, really.  Superfun and slightly noisy with some arguing children mixed in for good measure. 

On Communal Living

Why does it seem that the same adult to child ratio increases several times when we’re together?  Cleaning, cooking, feeding, playing, caring, etc. all seem to go so much more smoothly even though there are more children!  Let’s explore:

- the kids play together so much that free time for the adults to get other things done is much more plentiful.

- even though the number of children increases, one adult is entirely capable of hanging out with the entire crew which frees up THREE others to run errands, work their regular job, having computer time, cook, or pursue their own interests.

- one person is cleaning the same space (albeit slightly more messy sometimes with more children) which consolidates the efforts of two people who would have been cleaning separate spaces.

- there is always at least one adult with patience to cover for the (potentially) burnt out other three.

Maybe someday if we tire of our life on the road, we’ll consider one of the many unschool communities that are currently in their budding stages!

On Flexibility and Security

Part of our relaxed state is, surely, the hospitality and comfort of good friends.  We’ve known the Quinns for over three years and, while the scenery on our journeys is different, have always been able to be open, honest, and supportive of each other.  But it’s more than that. 

After being on the road officially for over a month now, I (because I can always only know my own feelings and observe the actions and implied feelings of others) am feeling so versatile, relaxed, and mobile.  There really is a sense that wherever we go, there we are.  As long as we have internet so Chris can work, we are home anywhere and everywhere.  There is no hurry to get back to anything, to go anywhere, no obligations to anyone but our own immediate family.  Though we’re settling in, our previous reality- the one engrained as ‘normal’- does occasionally creep in and we have fleeting moments in which we wonder when this ‘vacation’ will be over… anxiety that we’ve missed a deadline… or have forgotten a meeting.  The revelation (coming much more quickly now) is that this is real, functional life.  Thinking outside the box has allowed us to decrease our expenses, earn income, and travel on next to nothing for fuel.  What’s next?!

It feels wonderful to always be comfortable and present in this space and moment- to not need to be surrounded by our own things or see the same thing out our window everyday.  Have our bonds as a family strengthened since the shedding of material goods and the standard model of living?  Or have we just noticed them more without the physical distractions and ties of suburban-bound life? 

Does it matter?  It is… and it feels solid, connected, and joyful.  That’s what matters.

(pictures soon to accompany this blog post- check back!)

 

Rethink Everything!

I co-publish Rethinking Everything Magazine with my bosom buddy Barb Lundgren of the Rethinking Everything Conference. Let me tell you a little about our magazine and a special price we’re offering to celebrate the release of Issue Three on July 1st!

Why is this magazine different?

Where do I even start? This is an online magazine like you have never seen before. The pages turn! There’s audio and video from our writers and links to expand your knowledge and toolbox for your own personal enlightenment process. Don’t like to read online? Download, save, and view whenever as a full color, gorgeous .pdf file. OR print your copy to read anywhere you like! No other magazine gives you such rich content in any format to fit your reading style.

Who are these writers? They are artists of change and inspiration in their own lives- people who have found it within themselves and outside societal lines to inspire transformational change in their lifestyle and mindset. We’re talking everything from birth, parenting, and education to healthcare, finances, sustainability, and MORE! Barb and I work with every writer and handpick the stories to fill each quarterly issue with tellings of change that will move, inspire, push, and empower you- the reader.

As you may know from the Humans Being podcasts, part of my rethinking process has been evaluating my own passions as I seek to support my children in their authentic lives. Who am I? What do I love? Rethinking Everything Magazine is an integral part of this process. I have experienced so much change in every avenue of my life and continue to proceed down the roads less traveled even as we venture out onto them (yes, we’re moving into an RV to travel North America!). In subscribing to this magazine, you are supporting entrepreneurship, freedom, and growth in your own life as well as ours. This is why we love this so much.

Attracting and reading empowering stories of people jumping out of institutional thinking and boxes to find new and emboldened paths for their authentic lives continues to be transformational for us. We hope you will join in the process- to think deeply about your engrained beliefs, to feel supported in your change process, and to LOVE yourself enough to feel the discomfort and empowerment of growth.

How do I subscribe? I’m so glad you asked! You can always subscribe from our website and right now we’re offering a great deal- $15 off the regular subscription price.

Subscribe now for just $35 for a a FULL year!

You’ll receive your first issue on July 1st- that’s SOON!