Difficult Things

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Pam Laricchia from the Living Joyfully with Unschooling website: Would I like to be part of her Exploring Unschooling podcast?

As I read the invitation, I felt excited. I’m a fan of Pam’s. I knew it would be good to chat with her. But then, my excitement was overtaken by fear. I suddenly thought of a dozen reasons why I shouldn’t do the interview.

What if our Internet speed was too slow to maintain a connection? I wasn’t sure if I could work out how to connect my external mic to Zoom. Pam might ask me some tricky questions that I can’t answer. What if my mind went blank or my words got into a muddle? Pam might discover that I’m an unschooling imposter. It all seemed too difficult. I wondered whether I ought to thank Pam profusely for her invitation and then tell her I couldn’t accept it. I’d have to step too far outside my comfort zone and I wasn’t sure I was prepared to do that.

But I did take that risky step. I told Pam I’d be delighted to chat with her. So early one Monday morning, I opened my computer, followed a link Pam had emailed to me and connected my mic correctly.  Soon I could hear Pam’s friendly voice. We began talking.  I answered all the questions and my tongue only got into a muddle a couple of times! By the end of our conversation, I felt like I’d known Pam forever.

So I did a difficult thing. I conquered my fear. I did something new. And that feels good!

Our conversation is episode 150 of the Exploring Unschooling podcast: Stories of an Unschooling Family with Sue Elvis.

In episode 140 of my own podcast, I talk about the excitement of hearing from Pam again: Your episode is out!

I also chat about a lot of other things that can be difficult:

• Letting kids do what they want even if there is a risk of failure
• Taking risks so that we continue to learn
• Not pushing kids to use their talents
• Balancing the role of school teacher with that of unschooling father
• Talking to reluctant spouses about a desire to unschool
• Listening and building up trust
• Writing a 50,000-word novel
• Losing a child
• Reaching out to those who are grieving

I also share another one of my Thomas stories: An Exquisite Gown of Love. It’s about the love a stranger showed us when our son Thomas died.

Show Notes

Pam Laricchia’s Podcast

Exploring Unschooling

Episode 150 of the Exploring Unschooling Podcast: Stories of an Unschooling Family with Sue Elvis

Novel Writing

NaNoWriMo

Photo

Last Sunday, my daughters Sophie and Gemma-Rose competed in a 10 K run. In this photo, Gemma-Rose is holding an envelope containing a 6 months subscription to a gym. She won it in the post-race prize draw! Gemma-Rose gave the gym subscription to my husband Andy. He’ll be able to use it each day after work.

I wonder: Is going to the gym a difficult thing?

Thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoy my podcast, please consider sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling!

And if you’d like to stop by and comment on anything I spoke about in this week’s episode, please do! Perhaps you’ve got a story about difficult things. What was the last thing you did that required you to step outside your comfort zone?