Un-Scheduling

One question we unschoolers get often is, "What does a typical day look like in your home?"

For us, there is no typical day. Of course there are tasks and habits we follow each day, (we eat, play, clean, rest, in any given order), but we very much go with the flow where the river of life takes us.

I actually prefer not scheduling things to the clock. I may wake up and decide I want to go to the library, but I want the freedom to decide when it FEELS like the right time to go. So much of our living and learning is based on respecting what our minds and bodies need at the moment.

We try to connect to ourselves and each other, in such a way that we are ready to receive all that life has to offer. We're not running on autopilot when we are engaged. I believe we learn better this way.

In order to be able to connect and engage, we have to tend to our needs. We sleep when sleepy, we eat when hungry, we move when we feel kinetic. Our bodies and minds have their own biological clocks and this internal time piece changes as our needs change. Sometimes its more wound up than at other times. There are times we are excited to ride the rapids and other times we drop anchor or relax through calmer waters.

This is one reason why scheduling doesn't work so well for us. Not much in our lives is constant. We expect change and crave it. I think this has helped us learn to be very adaptive. I also believe this is why we tend to be successful in our pursuits. Aside from the obvious, we are passionate about our interests, the evolutionary process sometimes required to move through and towards your goal FEELS right to us, because we are used to and expecting change. We are not living our lives prisoner to the clock.

Following our own time tables does not mean we are disrespectful of the needs of others around us. Ask my boss how many times I've been late for work. She'll tell you I usually end up showing up a few minutes early before every shift. My son may appear to be a late sleeper, but our kitty has one of the cleanest litter boxes I've seen. He always cleans it first thing in the morning and before he goes to bed at night, without me having to ask him. He does this because he loves our cat and wants her to be healthy. He's found his own rhythm for getting done what he wants and needs to, while respecting the needs of others.

The portion of our time shared with others sometimes has to be scheduled, but this isn't difficult because so much of our time is exactly that, its OURS. We can balance that out.

I think if we were constantly scheduled we'd be exhausted and/or we'd have to switch to autopilot to function. We wouldn't be as creative because we'd worry about being in the box rather than outside of it.

Allowing ourselves the freedom to check within ourselves for what we're up for, helps us be more happy and healthy.