I’m in the midst of sifting through what I’d like to be writing about these days. “In the midst” is often not a comfortable place. I’d much rather be clearly past something or clearly looking forward to something rather than “sifting through” but I’m trying to take a more curious approach. Many parts of both my current life, past experiences and future ponderings seem to be calling at once.
What is the purpose of writing? I could jot my thoughts down in popcorn style or even put something well-crafted together for myself and those would serve their own solid purposes – the first would move thoughts and feelings outside of myself and onto paper, while the second would help define and organize them for my own understanding. But whenever I do bits of that (I’m not a journaller by nature), I wonder if there might not be others who would benefit from reading too, either because they can relate and gain a sense of commonality and comfort OR because they see a situation differently and maybe I can plant seeds to imagine a different perspective (and they can always share theirs back with me). There is a third possibility too, which is that someone hasn’t considered a topic much at all, and so another person sharing their thoughts (in this case, me) might open the door to finding out about it. And writing for others helps motivate me to actually put pen to paper.
Now that I’ve laid these out (I pare things down as I write), I realize the thoughts that are calling to be examined and articulated could fall into these three categories. I haven’t written them in any formal sense yet and may not, but here are some things that feel waiting to be written. Let me know if any stand out to you as ones that might be interesting to ponder.
In the first category, which is things written in case people might relate and feel commonality or comfort are topics such as:
The Complexity of Caregiving and Interacting in Children’s Early Years (by this I’m not talking about exhaustion, but actual mental complexity of figuring out everything from navigating strong assertions of independence at a toddler storytime, to sharing toys (or not) on a playdate or among siblings, to how many of our own needs to lay aside for later in any given moment. Various early parenting philosophies will have us believing there is a certain model to choose and follow – a formula to make things clear-cut. I’m not so sure. Spending regular time lately with the little lovelies in my life, one to one and in early years settngs, has me remembering otherwise and seeing from yet another lens again. I have so many anecdotes for this one!
The Tangled-up Views of Young Adulthood Amidst Assumptions of Class and Ability – there is much here to consider I think and I’m wondering about examining it through bite-size excerpts.
Social Media (as adults) and … ? Where to begin about social media, lol. So much good, so much inspiration and also so much over-stimulation and time waste sometimes.
In the second category (and this is the one I feel significantly nervous about so rarely manage to get this category of writing out) … people who see things differently from me and for whom seeds might be planted toward another perspective are topics such as:
Those of Us In-Between – Thinking Critically and Avoiding Labels during the Wild Polarization of the Pandemic. I suspect I still am not quite emotionally ready to write about this one. Still.
Finding a Way to Consider “Both/And/Many” When in Comes to Views of Neurodiversity, Ability and Capacity: My Own Ponderings and Experiences from Work and Family – the number of times I just changed the wording of this potential title speaks to how hard this would be for me to hit “publish” on.
Home Educating During Overtly Political Times
The Rise in Homeschooling as Business: Opportunities, Concerns and Considerations
In the third area … people who haven’t considered a topic much at all or maybe aren’t aware of it, and so another person sharing their thoughts might open the door to finding out about it are topics such as:
Canada: Our Very Sudden Wake-Up Call and Where We Go From Here in Identity and Relationship – I have a partially written piece in this to begin sorting out my own thoughts. Why do I place this in the third category of people learning more about something they might not be aware of or have thought much about? Because I’m noticing that even among the most well-meaning people and less biased media outlets, there isn’t understanding of the deeper, more nuanced feelings of confusion and grief in Canada right now in regard to our changing and already changed relationship with our neighbours, and the beginnings of a new sort of gathering together as a country and strangely hopeful moving ahead. I think these will be long-lasting dynamics so there’s likely no rush for me to write about them but if you’re living outside of Canada, or are here but can’t quite put your finger on an odd new feeling, maybe it could be helpful.
Higher Learning Outside of Formal Education – I’m excited to dive into this at some point because I think there are so many possibilities to explore. It would need a subtitle that I don’t quite have yet but I would want to incorporate the idea that it becomes much lighter to step outside the box if you’re willing to look beyond the assumed standards or ways and models of living. Eg, If your goals are different, your path can be different as well.
A few of these topics might be more easily discussed around the Virtual Kitchen Table but others I think would be better flushed out in writing.
I have lots of thoughts but with much writing for my work, I don’t always have the initiative to get through the process for website posts. However, I’m tired of short form social media snippets, at least for the moment, so I’ve landed back here.
And now I’ve written about not knowing what to write.
So we’ll see … 🙂
Thoughts?
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