Walking up and down the steps

I have been developing a lot of appreciation for people who are moving from one career or job to another.  Shutting down an office or long-standing project and moving onto the next is not for the faint-hearted.  And, it must be amazingly terrible if that came about because of a layoff or shutting down of a company.  I am trying to go through home-school materials and figure out what can be used as I transition (morph?) to the next step.

Life happens in steps; steps of all kinds.

  Some lead from one level to another, some lead in an ever moving circle,

but they are all steps.

And, sometimes the steps lead to a jumping off place where we try out what we have been learning on the steps.

So, after lots of steps and quite a bit of angst

I realize I really did accomplish some things with home-schooling our children, and teaching others' children, and organizing classes, and putting together two conferences (because I thought they should happen).   Our children may have different thoughts and feelings about this adventure, and they should because they were right there the entire time.

But, how to translate this into transition?

I tried to set up a Meet Up session at the suggestion of a very good friend this week.  It was going to be me speaking to interested parents about deciding if home-schooling is a good idea, and then how to set the ball in motion.  No one signed up, which is fine.  I am going to reschedule and try it again.  Guess what?!  These people have no idea of who I am, and no reason to pay $30 to come hear what I have to say.  This is a wake up call as I transition from my small, vibrant group to the bigger world.  HELLO!

Yesterday, I wrote a short article, for a neighborhood magazine,

about what is happening (in a limited way) in the education world, and what I am contributing (my game and blog).  Will they think it is self-promotion?  Who knows?  It is my small step toward saying something to the larger world.







So, back to the steps toward helping teenagers preparing for college.

My focuses today are MAKING DECISIONS and WHAT IT MEANS TO FIND YOUR PLACE.

"Whenever someone makes a decision the brain is awash in feeling, driven by its inexplicable passions.  Even when a person tried to be reasonable and restrained, these emotional impulses secretly influence judgement...The simple truth of the matter is that making good decisions requires us to use both side of the mind." (How We Decide by Johan Lehrer, Into, xvi)

Why do we think choosing a college should be based on SAT/ACT scores, grades and coached essays?  I am heading out for a first look at colleges with our daughter.  More steps and more will be revealed...