When was the first time you started to think outside the box?  Did it surprise you to find that you were outside the box or have you often held a seat on the outside looking in?

Our early childhood experiences often set us up for a life either inside society’s institutions or outside the box, wondering why people are so locked into mindsets governed by rules they have never challenged and certainly never created.

I grew up with a family that functioned well inside the box.  I was taught the “code” to be successful and I have many advantages in my knapsack that make me an ideal candidate to succeed inside the box.  But I am a sensitive person and I just haven’t ever felt authentic or happy living by those rules.

I have always had an interest in health, in a deeper sense.  Mind, body, and spirit. Self-awareness.  Happiness.  Learning.  I’ve been curious about what do people need to not just be well, but to really flourish in life.  So I studied those topics from different angles through my education and work.

I remember the first article I read about a Democratic Free School.  It was in teacher’s college, in a magazine about learning alternatives that was in a discard pile, free for the taking.  I read the article and felt so energized.  This is it!  This made so much sense!  From every angle I had ever researched, studied, and observed!  Children learn naturally!  We just have to provide a hub of interesting people and activities, supportive facilitators, freedom to choose, and time to pursue their curiosities.

“We’re doing it all wrong!” I happily shared in my teaching group.  I was met with polite smiles.  How could they not be as excited about this as I was?  Everything about teacher’s college suddenlt seemed backwards…kids need freedom, nuturance, natural environments yet I learned how to control (for safety), judge (for accountability and comparison), and all the politics, language, and structure of the system that had been set up in the 1800’s.  Today there are a lot of nice people in the system but it is rooted in autocratic power for a few and fear-based coercion for most.  It’s hard to have everyone reach their full potential in a set up with those sorts of power imbalances as part of the fundamental structure.

While teaching, I worked with some wonderful colleagues.  I can honestly say that I LOVED every child in my care.  But I felt frustrated that some kids in this system just would not survive the judgments and comparisons, the structure, and the boredom without losing a piece of what made them so special.  Their enthusiasm had to be curbed into following lessons and schedules made for the masses.  Their energy had to be funneled into activities that they completed in order to please the adult in charge.  The kids that developed certain skills later were made to feel “behind” their peers.  Even the ones who were star students often lacked passion for what they were learning and didn’t have a sense of who they were or what their true passions were.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  There is learning that happens outside the box.  Some of you may know this already. (Wink wink, I’m looking at you, out of the box thinkers!)  But for those of you who feel like you are not a good fit for the public system, or if you feel you are being “pushed out”, please know that the learning continues outside our public system.  And it’s really beautiful.