JOMO The Joy of Missing Out.

It’s the end of July and we are about to set off on our next “learning journey” road schooling trip. The last several months we have been focusing on our blessings over the Winter. We have been getting cosy by our new wood fire for which we are so thankful!

When not immersed in Mother Nature as we usually are, we’ve been devouring classic literature while keeping warm at home. We live in a beautiful part of the world, in a valley surrounded by mountains, rivers, wetlands, springs and waterfalls. We truly adore the land which surrounds us!

Watching the wilderness change with the seasons and cycles is one of the most precious gifts we are blessed to possess! We’ve been in our own back yard, transforming an old sandpit into a new veggie patch and watching our seeds sprout up into seedlings! It’s all a marvel for anyone let alone our children to watch and learn from.

We’ve been able to return to places that we haven’t visited for many moons, including sanctuaries, libraries and nurseries. It’s made us appreciate them so much for not having been for so long. Mostly though, we’ve been lapping up the Winter wonderland of our local wetlands and wilderness that we hold so dear.

We couldn’t imagine any other way of living and learning… and while some may say we are missing out on the school thing, I agree! And it’s not a F.O.M.O (fear of missing out)! It’s a J.O.M.O! It’s a JOY of missing out! We get to be with each other as a family and that’s priceless.

One of the objections I was prejudiced with in recent months was “but they need to be around children their own age”. To this I say: How unfortunate it would be to limit my children’s lives to be surrounded by only those their “own age”. To reduce them and define them by the year of their birth would be a great misgiving.

We are but so much more than our age! So much can happen in a minute that can change a life let alone a year! If we only understood the power we have! So much can change that defines our lives in such little time! Let us not be reduced to our age! Life is so much more than that!

I want my children to learn that their capabilities are well and truly beyond the number of years they have walked this earth! For it’s not the number that counts, but the quality of life that matters! Let us learn this first!