What Sparks Joy? Unschoolers Knew...
And, yes. There are some hilarious memes at the bottom of this page! Feel free to share them!
Unschooling Moms are smiling...
Great news for moms who have been beating themselves up over their messy houses. When our kids are home all day, spreading out projects, distractedly leaving shoes or plates in all the wrong places, this lived-in look can become a source of shame.
Famous Tidying Up person, Marie Kondo, has shifted her perspective!
Now that she has had a third child, she has pushed past the embarrassment of a messy house and sees a bigger application of her neatness concept. Marie has joined the ranks of moms everywhere who are examining what really matters most in their lives with their children.
Hello there!
Before we dive into that, as it relates to unschooling, allow me to introduce myself.
I’m Sue Patterson, your host here at the
Unschooling Mom2Mom podcast.
I’m a mom of 3 grown unschoolers, who has circled back to help families like yours see that you DO have choices.
And it WILL work out.
Even if you choose something as unconventional as unschooling.
My kids got into colleges, started careers, have families - and enjoyed their childhoods. Doors did not close for them. So when people say you have to make the kids jump through a variety of hoops or they'll never be "successful," I’m here to tell you that that’s not true!
And over the years, I’ve created so many resources to help you! Membership groups where you can feel supported with other families on this journey too, courses, guides, blogposts, and this podcast. Which, by the way, if you feel so inclined, let me share a couple of ways to support the Unschooling Mom2Mom podcast.
- Leave a five-star review on whatever platform you listen. Those reviews are what tell the powers-that-be to share this podcast far and wide. So that way you can help spread the word too!
- Join at Patreon for a regular $5/month
- Buy me a coffee at BuyMeaCoffee.com/suepatterson - I love that one because I really do envision you sipping coffee with me in some cute little coffee shop. ☕️
Back to Marie Kondo and why it matters to unschoolers.
Her new book applies the Japanese concept of
kurashi, or “way of life” or even "the ideal way of spending your time."
Now you're starting to see the connection?
While she probably has no idea what unschooling is, Marie’s new kurashi-inspired ideas are very unschooling-aligned!
It’s all about expanding on simple ways to “spark joy every day and lead a joyful life.”
And this is what parents wrestle with as they begin their unschooling journey:
Reframing what they've been told should be the priority
vs. what the reality is for their family.
Marie Kondo has evidently irritated a lot of people who "followed" her Kondo Method, and now don't like that she has shifted.
Humans always seem to want a formula, a solution, a way to "tidy up" our thinking so it makes sense, right? But the reality is that while we're gathering ideas from other people, we have to move away from the concept of following people blindly.
We have had YEARS of school conditioning that pushed us to do exactly that!
But unschooling parents are discovering that letting THAT concept go allows us to create the truly individualized lives we know we (and our kids) deserve.
And, yes, that can be messy - our thoughts AND our living rooms!
I'm happy Marie has been brave enough to share the changes that she's making as her family grows. Can't we all remember ideas we had BEFORE we had kids - stories in our heads of what we would tolerate or how we would parent? And then, as if the Universe was chuckling a little, saying, "Oh yeah? What if you have kids that are like this? What if your Life looks like this?"
It's ok. We don't know what we don't know. And then we know better. And we make the necessary adjustments. Like you're doing now as you're letting go of the storeis in your head that prevent you from having the joy that you and the kids deserve. Lives that FIT. Lives that are REALITY-BASED. Lives that you all enjoy.
Marie asks a simple question. It's an expansion of her earlier premise, but we unschoolers use the same way of approaching the world too:
“What if every decision you made,
every goal you set
and every aspect of your life
was guided by what sparks joy?”
When I went over to her website and dug a little deeper, I saw that Marie said,
"when we consciously cherish something precious, we deepen our relationship with it.
This, in turn, deepens our bonds with other things in our lives, bringing out the best in them and in ourselves.”
She even developed 4 specific action steps for exploring your own kurashi:
- Expand your vision
- Let go of Constraints
- Give Yourself Time
- Hold Space for What Matters
And there's our unschooling connection.
Shifting our perspectives, prioritizing our relationships. Focusing on what matters.
Ahh... Having kids.
They really do shift our perspectives.
Even Marie Kondo’s!
I can feel unschooling moms smiling over their coffees this morning!
Read Shannon Louck's fabulous blogpost about our messy houses here:
My House Is A Mess!
While I have not read Marie Kondo’s book, I HAVE read Shannon's - and it’s fabulous. It’s called:
Love more: 50 Ways to Build Joy into Childhood.
OK, so that’s it for this week. Do like Marie and Shannon and me - embrace the mess.
Look past it so you can SEE the Joy that’s there.
Until next time, enjoy your family...
happy unschooling!
We're always talking about ways to be practical in my coaching group!
Maybe it's time you join us?
