Ren

"So my next question would be how do I start giving myself permission to just
DO something that intrigues me without proof of my long term interest?"

As Nike says "Just DO It"

Seriously though, if I get intrigued with something, I try to act on it while the interest is there. After I intensely explore something (sometimes for a few days, sometimes for months) I'm usually done with it for a long time. In this way, I've given myself a damn good liberal arts education, without college!:)

Let's see, I have supplies for altered books and two books that have been started and put on hold for a while....I'll get back to them when I'm ready. I keep a lot of art supplies around for all kinds of projects, art is one constant in my life, but the projects and interests levels change a lot.
As a writer, I usually have several writing projects in limbo...when I get stuck on one, I can move to another (see, being neurotic is GOOD).
Lately, my obsession has been philosophy. I've been reading stuff on Plato, Socrates and other philosophers...some of it too heavy and makes my head hurt, but I'm fascinated nonetheless. A study of Semiotics led me to a great series of pro-tv studies...very cool.

I have an ongoing interest in wines and plan to take a class soon.
Taking a short course on something can be a great way to satisfy an interest if you aren't sure how to dive in on your own (rarely a problem for me).
I always have other countries or time periods snag me, but a steady ongoing interest in medieval times has led to a lot of fun... I haven't attended an event or re-enactment in over a year, maybe I will again when I feel like it! I've gotten obsessed with authentic medieval food and after reading for days I did a meal at home, we all dressed up in costumes and had dinner. Then I was done with medieval food for a LONG time.:)
I think it's really beneficial to have many interests...you know how many people you can connect with in this life, by understanding and having some knowledge of MANY things? It's cool. I can have semi-intelligent conversations with people from many walks of life. I LIKE my neurotic self. lol

So next time the urge strikes Sherry, just go for it! Giving yourself permission is very freeing. And if the materials sit unused, don't despair, you never know when someone else will need it, or you will get excited again. It's better to have the materials on hand when you're inspired.

I had a Vermeer calendar that had sat for about a year, gathering dust with a bunch of other art calendars (I bought on sale to have examples of the artitsts work on hand). We watched "Girl with the pearl earring" one night and boy was I glad we had that calendar and all my art books. We looked at the real pictures Vermeer did, versus the ones they used in the movie. It was really great.

Ren


Learn about unschooling at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingbasics/

Sherri-Lee Pressman

Hi Ren,



Thank you for this. After reading this and the other responses, I can't tell
you how my attitude has changed and in what seems like such an easy way. I
feel more free to express an interest in something without feeling any
further responsibility to it.



My mom is here visiting, and we were talking about my college diploma. I
started it in 1981 went till 1983 and due to too much enjoyment of life free
from the limits and rules of my mom, I didn't do so well and ended up not
finishing. Well when I was sick and on disability, they wanted to retrain
me, so instead of starting something new I looked into finishing this
diploma. It was something I wanted to do, meant a lot because it was very
close to my fathers field, he had paid for the first incomplete effort and I
wanted to finish it for me but also for him. So I looked into it and
finished it and in 1996 graduated. So 15 years to do a 2 year diploma:-) Of
course during that time, I had three careers, lived in a couple of foreign
countries and did a bunch of other stuff that was pretty exciting. So mom
and I were talking about it and I made a comment that this month was my last
payment on my student loan. And somewhere in the conversation I commented on
how pleased I was that I had finished it and she said "it's just too bad it
too you so long" And I looked at her and said "why? What difference does it
make how long it took?" And I felt so pleased with myself to be able to say
that to her.



That is because of this conversation.



Last night I heard the word "yurt" for the first time. had to look into it
and spent an hour looking at them on the web. Now I know about them and I
doubt I will spend a lot of time looking into them anymore. but it is one
more bit of info. This unschooling road is pretty cool.



Sherri-Lee



_____

From: Ren [mailto:starsuncloud@...]
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2004 6:41 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Digest Number 138




"So my next question would be how do I start giving myself permission to
just
DO something that intrigues me without proof of my long term interest?"

As Nike says "Just DO It"

Seriously though, if I get intrigued with something, I try to act on it
while the interest is there. After I intensely explore something (sometimes
for a few days, sometimes for months) I'm usually done with it for a long
time. In this way, I've given myself a damn good liberal arts education,
without college!:)

Let's see, I have supplies for altered books and two books that have been
started and put on hold for a while....I'll get back to them when I'm ready.
I keep a lot of art supplies around for all kinds of projects, art is one
constant in my life, but the projects and interests levels change a lot.
As a writer, I usually have several writing projects in limbo...when I get
stuck on one, I can move to another (see, being neurotic is GOOD).
Lately, my obsession has been philosophy. I've been reading stuff on Plato,
Socrates and other philosophers...some of it too heavy and makes my head
hurt, but I'm fascinated nonetheless. A study of Semiotics led me to a great
series of pro-tv studies...very cool.

I have an ongoing interest in wines and plan to take a class soon.
Taking a short course on something can be a great way to satisfy an interest
if you aren't sure how to dive in on your own (rarely a problem for me).
I always have other countries or time periods snag me, but a steady ongoing
interest in medieval times has led to a lot of fun... I haven't attended an
event or re-enactment in over a year, maybe I will again when I feel like
it! I've gotten obsessed with authentic medieval food and after reading for
days I did a meal at home, we all dressed up in costumes and had dinner.
Then I was done with medieval food for a LONG time.:)
I think it's really beneficial to have many interests...you know how many
people you can connect with in this life, by understanding and having some
knowledge of MANY things? It's cool. I can have semi-intelligent
conversations with people from many walks of life. I LIKE my neurotic self.
lol

So next time the urge strikes Sherry, just go for it! Giving yourself
permission is very freeing. And if the materials sit unused, don't despair,
you never know when someone else will need it, or you will get excited
again. It's better to have the materials on hand when you're inspired.

I had a Vermeer calendar that had sat for about a year, gathering dust with
a bunch of other art calendars (I bought on sale to have examples of the
artitsts work on hand). We watched "Girl with the pearl earring" one night
and boy was I glad we had that calendar and all my art books. We looked at
the real pictures Vermeer did, versus the ones they used in the movie. It
was really great.

Ren


Learn about unschooling at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingbasics/






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