The Learning Umbrella

Cathy created this meme, with an interesting back story of how she found it.  So here I go.

Eight Questions About Our Lives Because Eight Questions Are Plenty

1. What is the best part of your life right now?
I have the time and ability to continue learning and growing, to pursue my own projects and creative endeavors, and to order and control much of my own life.  I am also blessed with a wonderful family, a safe and comfortable home, and all the other blessings we start to take for granted.

2. What do you think the best part of the near future will be?
Watching my children grow.  Finally not having to wash cloth diapers all the time!  Soon, I won’t have anymore in diapers.  Maybe (fingers crossed) moving on to a new vocation that will fit in with homeschooling my kids.
3. What are you most afraid of?
Like Cathy, my top fear is losing a child.  Then, I’m afraid of never being fully healthy again.  I don’t want to live with this chronic pain for the rest of my life, and looking ahead to the years the fear of that pain makes things look very bleak.
4. What are you a little worried about?
Making a mistake, being a failure, choosing the wrong thing.  Is the world going to heat up and water slosh up to my doorstep when the ice sheets melt?  Stuff like that.

5. What do you dream of?
My literal dreams are too weird and personal to discuss.  My hopes and ideal wishes: that good old-fashioned American inventiveness will turn it’s mind toward a more sustainable way to live, that education in this country will come to look more like a hybrid of a public library system with the parks and recreation department and just a smidgeon of mentorship/life-coach, and that all our hearts will turn more toward loving compassion thereby bringing about the end of war, poverty, crime, discrimination, and loneliness.
6. Who do you trust the most to share these things with?
My mom, my husband, my sister and brothers.

7. What questions do you have?

What is the proper balance between anarchy and totalitarianism?  How much do I believe in freedom versus how much do I believe in the common good?  Why do some people do evil things?  How can every child be truly wanted and loved?  What is the purpose of life?  What is my purpose?  Would my life be different, if I was skinnier? (Yes, I think it would).
8. What gifts and skills can you share?

Seeking and creating order and routine.  Caring for others.  Learning.  Teaching.  Creating a home, feeding people, making clothing.  Telling stories, asking questions, keeping an open mind, keeping true to core values.  Loving, forgiving, feeling compassion.  Giving and sharing whatever I can.

I’m going to tag some people, that I would like to hear from: Angela, Tara, PisecoMom, and TribeofAutodidacts.  And anyone else who wants to play along, consider yourself tagged as well.