We attended a homeschool hike today that was meant to end with fairy house building. Most of the children weren’t interested, but my elder son found a dead bird and decided she needed a home…with a pool.
His Morbid Fairy House
Our Kind of Classroom
Our learning lifestyle changed dramatically in 2020. Almost all of our learning is done socially. As government Lockdowns partnered with fear-driving media, it became impossible to find people to learn from and with. The dozens (hundreds?) of individuals we interacted with per week was whittled down to a couple of families.
Fortunately, the mom of one of those families was sure that there were more of us who recognized the need for social learning. I was a naysayer, but backed her efforts to start a new group of families as the summer of Lockdowns began. On our first “official” get together, there were eight families and most of us didn’t know each other. The group has grown and the core families have become fast friends. I’ve witnessed (and received) material, emotional, and spiritual gifts given everyday through our various chats and group texts. Our weekly gatherings have grown into multiple days of video gaming, analog gaming, Lego building, cooking, and all types of learning meet-ups.
The latest adventure was brought to us by a mom brand new to homeschooling. She may have been considered a Crisis, or Isolation, Schooler when she met us. Lockdown restrictions on schools did not work for her family. I don’t know how she found our group, but she and her children have been a blessing to us in a number of ways.
One way was an invite to participate in Junior Rifle Club, a weekly meet of children to get instruction on gun safety and usage.
It was an early start and my boys struggled a bit with hearing the initial safety speech repeated a few times as new participants arrived. Although unplanned, I believe it was important for them to hear the messages multiple times (which, of course, they would continue to hear throughout the morning).
They took turns shooting and observing for close to three hours without complaint. They got to watch their improvement on the targets and the learning was off the charts, too much to absorb in one morning. I have no doubt that this will become an important part of our week and we will be broadening our skills in significant ways.
Some Homeschool Encouragement
I’ve felt a sense of failure many times on our learning lifestyle journey and I’ve been at this for six years.
2020 was a really difficult time to begin homeschooling. More than 90% of our resources were taken away. We are hands on, experiential learners, almost nothing we do is online or “virtual.”
Even with all the resources, the start was rocky for us. We tried so many things and it was “giving up” that showed me how learning will occur without an authority figure demanding it. I’m now a devoted unschooler and concern myself more with their emotional, spiritual, and physical growth than academics.
Each family has to find its own groove. You’ll get there. You’ve got this.
Wim Hof Method Breathing in the Cold
I expected to play soccer last night, but the game fell through and I decided on a jiu-jitsu class. It smashed me and I had a tough time waking up this morning. I thank God for this practice. It used to be soccer or nothing for me. Now, with yoga and jiu-jitsu, I’m not only a stronger soccer player, but I’ve got options when the Universe wants to change plans on me.
Once I wore out my phone’s snooze function (didn’t know that could happen), I saw the last glow of sunrise fading and ran out to start my daily breathing. It was the coldest (27°F) and windiest day for my practice and I’m not sure why I didn’t put a shirt on. The wind was tame, but it felt like icy electricity crackling over my skin.
I love the different sensations I experience during the 5 rounds of 30 intentional breaths with breath retention on the last exhale of each round. Different shapes appear in my vision behind my closed eyelids. Today, the first couple rounds were accompanied by forks of lightning emanating from the bottom left of my field of vision. They faded and the field became calmer and more even, a soft, five-point star appearing during the last round.
As I hold my lungs empty, I try to focus on parts of my body that need attention. I was pleased that my knees were feeling better and not surprised that a smashed toe was still healing.
Today was the most discomfort I have felt in my fingers, but I directed attention there, and that faded as well. The small, yet distinctly observable, healing moments have been incredible. In the summer I would be bitten by a mosquito or two during early rounds, yet there would be no welts after I was finished. Doing this first thing in the morning, my body is often awkward and stiff. After the breathing, I am always moving more smoothly. The places I target with my mind seem to continually and actively heal throughout the day.
I think it’s about time to get Wim Hof’s book and deepen my journey.
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Back to Service
God blesses us every day.
I have been sorely missing the service opportunities provided by our church community. I’m a poorly educated Christian, but my experience with the Gospels places love and service over fear of the human frailty of disease. Slowly, we are finding ways to help our neighbors in the spirit of Christ.
For a few hours this MLK, Jr. Day, we felt love and shared it as we were given the chance to help beautify One Village Alliance’s Freedom Center in Wilmington.
When we arrived, someone was already outlining a mural and the grounds looked like this.
We removed a massive amount of ivy and I was allowed to build a makeshift fire pit.
I got lost in the ivy. My late wife, Mary, and I lived in two homes that existed under the constant threat of being overrun. I indulged in a touch of anger at the creeping vines as I smiled at the cleared fence and grounds. The firepit gave more catharsis. My knees hurt from grappling with the ivy embedded in two inches of driveway gravel and dirt, but permission to put the cinder blocks to use was more than enough to overcome the discomfort. Mary loved fires. We never had a pit this big and I envisioned her working alongside me to prep the fire.
My sons faded from the yard work and I couldn’t blame them, there was painting to do. They started inside, helping with the stairs, and ended up contributing to the love-infused mural outside.
Finally, they were rewarded with a videogame paradise provided by Mobile Entertainment Theater.
We were all rewarded with this day of service. I made new connections and saw friends who I’ve missed for nearly a year. We walked away with jobs still to be done, but also real improvement in a necessary community center.
“Diametrically”
I asked my son what he would write about auditioning for his role in The Pilgrim’s Progress.
He said he would write about learning the word “diametrically,” even though it turned out not to be in a line he needed to recite.
It’s simple, but he’ll never forget that word and so many others that he’s had to learn for the stage.
It reminds me of his first time at a mic. He volunteered to read a line in Delaware Shakespeare‘s Shakespeare Day event. He couldn’t read yet, but his little hand shot up and he was charging forward before I could stop him. The emcee, David Stradley, read the line in his ear and Westen repeated the words clearly.
His fearlessness is matched only by his curiosity. Adventure means learning and the more we learn, the greater the adventures become.
I’m losing count of the times he has taken the stage in various settings, each time learning more.
Thursdays Are My Favorite
This was established as an anti-isolation group. We were all feeling trapped by government regulations and the fear-based hysteria of the media. We came together as families who wanted to experience community again. We are moms and dads who need human contact and children who need to play with other children.
We’ve become the community we were seeking. We support each other in material and non-material ways. We listen to each others needs and provide when we can. These Thursday meetups have grown into other get-togethers, field trips, homeschool lessons, clubs, and numerous social events.
Thursdays are my favorite because they are when the biggest, and most diverse, group of us meet. Thursdays are when we explore our differences and reveal our similarities. We share ourselves with each other.
FFT: Assistant Director?!
Fuck, I curse too much for this gig.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I’ve never acted, directed, written, built a set, played music, or been any part of a stage production. I’m sitting in on auditions this week and don’t know the material. The Pilgrim’s Progress is the most famous Christian novel in history and I hardly know the outline. I feel that pressure too, of not being “enough” of a Christian, whatever that means. And getting children to focus on a task is not an unschooling dad’s strongest play. Even though I’ve been assured that my role will be limited and it all seems manageable, I’m a bit terrified.
That’s why I volunteered. I’ve been a fan of theater since my best friend’s family took us to see Phantom of the Opera in Philly as high school freshmen. He got sent to boarding school and I started hanging with the drama kids. I became a casual theatergoer, from Evil Dead: The Musical to Patrick Stewart as Macbeth in London to many more Shakespeare productions with my sons.
Now I’m father to a couple of drama kids. Their bravery inspires me daily. They love an audience and they’re not afraid of failure. I’m not helping this production for their sake, but they have excited me to take on something new and scary.
FFT: Fucking First Time. New places, new people, new responsibilities…these are the things that frighten and exhilarate me.
Thrice Malice
Michael Malice has evolved from a curmudgeonly hipster troll on late night cable news (Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld) to the most curmudgeonly optimistic troll in media today. It has been a joy to watch his public journey toward self actualization.
During a few hours on the road yesterday, I was able to listen to three new interviews with him. Each with a different flavor.
The first to grab my attention was Malice with Isaac Morehouse.
Michael Malice Thinks Things Are Looking Up
Morehouse is the founder of Praxis, a modern apprenticeship company expanding the options for young people to enter a productive and fulfilling adulthood. He talks with Malice about the broad concepts of the Red Pill and the White Pill.
The Red Pill is the mindset shift that occurs when one understands that the corporate media is lying to them about almost everything. One pill may have you realizing that reporters are ordinary humans who want to be liked by the celebrities, politicians, and power brokers they cover and will protect those relationships rather than chronicle dirty truths (e.g. Epstein, Queen Elizabeth II, Kate Middleton, and Prince William). Though Malice warns, “You’re supposed to take one Red Pill, not the whole bottle.” I’m guilty of recreational Red Pilling when the accepted bullshit is flowing my way.
The White Pill is the hero to the villainess Black Pill. Simply put, it is the idea that today’s methods of communication and information sharing have taken away the power of the few to control the narratives that lie us into domestic, international, and interpersonal conflicts. There will continue to be turmoil as the power structure is brought down, but the world will be freer and more peaceful on the other side.
As I don’t obsess over the latest fever dream of broadcast news, and Malice mentioned the storming of the Capitol in that podcast, I sought out commentary and eyewitness accounts of what happened recently in Washington, DC.
Storming the Capitol: Michael Malice, Karlyn Borysenko and Elijah Schaffer
Dave Rubin is a commentator who I have come trust through his relationship and discussions with Jordan Peterson and his public conversion away from ideology.
This roundtable includes two reporters who were at the scene on the events in DC on January 6th. These are not narratives, but facts from the ground that will not please those who want a tidy story. Malice rightfully puts this in context with the burning of DC and other cities in June.
Lastly, I found Malice’s latest episode of “Your Welcome” where he has a conversation with comedian Dave Smith.
Dave Smith – In The House 10.Three – Episode #136
Smith and Malice discuss the general mess that is the Libertarian Party. The Party missed a huge opportunity in 2020 and is floundering with an undercooked stew of bumper sticker ideas and desire to be “in the middle.”
One big takeaway from this conversation for me is the concept that libertarians have a position that can out right the Right and out left the Left. I have to give it another listen, but this may be the banner under which libertarians can gather a cohesive debate strategy.
That’s a lot of homework and I hate homework. The first discussion is really the one you want to introduce you to Michael Malice and a positive outlook for the coming storm.
Michael Malice’s books:
Isaac Morehouse’s books:
Dave Rubin’s book:
Dave Smith’s comedy special:
What I’m reading:
LOVE
During a visit to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, we spent time creating art and music at their children’s garden.
I found instant tranquility in the watercolors placed on the pint-sized work table. Similarly, my sons dove into their projects.
Another child, maybe three or four years old, sat with me to create shapes no more complex than my own.
After his mom coaxed him back to his group, I noticed what he had painted. It was a padlock that had a heart in the space between the shank and the body (learning lifestyle bonus point: I had to look up the names of those parts). Children are clued into a deeper level of existence. Heart imagery has been trailing me for days and I know this is God’s way of refocusing me on love.
Meanwhile, the Zerbey creations were a bit more wild.
