It’s hard to let go of external metrics of accomplishment: Good grades. Attendance awards. Trophies. Promotions. Facebook likes…
Intellectually, we can understand that those things don’t actually provide any sort of real fulfillment. But it takes a conscious rewiring, a true letting go of external rewards in order to feast on the fulfillment of everyday living. The reward of true presence is subtle and infinitely more satisfying than that dangly carrot we can never quite grasp.
Our days at Juniper Root are full of life, not busyness. They are full of motion, not going through the motions. These children are not trained with carrots and sticks, they are propelled through their days by curiosity and joy. By the desire to always extend their abilities a little further than the day before. We don’t have to motivate them to do these things. We simply need to provide time, space, support, and stay out of their way.
This week (11/20/24) we:
-came together for picture day
-made sure the school was up to code for our licensing inspection
-explored an owl pellet we found in the wild and decided to order more so we can reconstruct the tiny skeletons
-made friends with all sorts of creatures
-discovered the joy of a multiplication chart
-invented and coordinated several interesting group games
-harvested vegetables and cooked delicious soup
-cleaned out an aquaponics bed and discussed the mechanics of the system
-prepared and priced creative works for our booth at a farmer’s market in a couple weeks
-removed honeysuckle and started clearing out a new area of the woods
-discussed how to modify rules and boundaries to best meet everyone’s needs
-ironed SO MANY unique perler bead creations
-laughed, ate, cried, joked, hugged, tumbled, built, climbed, bickered, sang, made messes, cleaned up, and created together
-spent plenty of time doing nothing at all
Since the tasks themselves are the motivation, they don’t exhaust us.
Since life is our curriculum, it’s impossible to fall behind.
Comments