Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing. -Lao Tzu
When my kids were little I considered summer a time for unschooling — a time for living and learning outside the classroom, a time for self-guided education, a time to climb boulders and mountains (we lived in the mountains), for slow learning, and also a time for plain old rest, relaxation and play. Even though they’re grown, I still unschool life over the summer to the extent possible. Here is a list of 10 ideas worthy of your time.
Read recklessly. Hug your books and let them hug you back. Read the good stuff; read the bad stuff. Hang out at the library. Ask the librarian what their favorite book of all time is. Check out your neighborhood “little free” library (take a book, share a book!). Read to a kid and then read to another kid.
Take up a new- or old-fashioned hobby. A source of joy and enrichment, hobbies are reliable good-health inducers. Share the experience with someone else or go solo. (Just so you know, cooking is not a hobby. Please consider it essential.) Kids are endless sources of hobby ideas, so seek their guidance. Pickleball, perhaps?
Get outside. Walk or jog and listen to birdsong. Pause, breathe deep, and notice how you feel. Ride a bike on a nearby path. Pause, breathe deep, and notice how you feel. Growing up, I used to get together with neighborhood kids and play Kick the Can after dinner. If this is no longer a thing, it should be!
Grow something. Take up gardening, or apprentice yourself to a gardener, or visit a botanical garden. Seed, soil, and sun. These three S’s helps fight disease, improve sleep, build strength, boost mood, and much more.
Start a journal. In Julia Cameron's “The Artist's Way,” she suggests writing three pages, longhand and stream-of consciousness, first thing in the morning, to overcome the obstacles that stop you from becoming your most creative self. Stick with it and you’ll be amazed by what happens.
Borrow a child (unless you have one handy). Take them to the movies, or experience a museum, or just hang out and make art. Children have uncanny abilities to unschool adults in ways we never thought of, or thought were possible. Plus, they make us smile.
Sleep in and take naps. Slow down and give in to idleness and rest. Practice doing nothing. Practice being (without electronics!).
Get out of town. While life challenges don’t miraculously go away when travel takes place, they often hibernate. Unschooling is akin to de-stressing, and traveling, while it can come with stressors, takes us out of our routine and daily stresses.
Get to water. Swim in an ocean or float a stream. Take a long bath. In his poem, “The Peace of Wild Things,” Wendall Barry states: I come into the presence of still water. | And I feel above me the day-blind stars | waiting for their light. For a time |I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Find people who are having fun and do what they’re doing. Or make your own kind of fun. You may have to pretend at first, until your fun-seeking side becomes more familiar.
Our national culture embraces the notion that a lack of productivity translates to laziness. We speak of work-life balance, yet most of us rarely cultivate a lifestyle that fully integrates unschooling. Valuing the fallow time of pondering is vital to well-being. If doing so becomes uncomfortable, find a child (your own, perhaps), and let things unfold as they invariably do.
Mary Daniel is a Certified Nutrition Health Coach dedicated to the pursuit of good health, both for herself and others. Through her business, Your One Precious Life, she partners with clients and communities and in the spirit of collaboration, paves the way for health transformations.
Interested in a free health consultation? Visit: www.youronepreciouslife.com or email mary@youronepreciouslife.
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