Thursday, July 28, 2011

Listen to your heart: a blast from the past inspired by the Altered Page



While I whip you up a lime putty recipe and finish off my next piece that I PROMISED I'd blog about tomorrow, Seth at the Altered Page came up with an offer that was too good to refuse: Dig up some buried treasure in the form of a favourite blog post from the past.  The post below is one of my personal favourites. Why? Because one year on, I'm still thrilled that I went ahead and followed my heart. Although it's not about art. It could just as well be. Life is art - is it not?


It's my own personal reminder to listen to my heart over and over and over again. 


Hope you do too, for never was there a truer voice :) 


Much love and see you tomorrow



WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010


People mistakenly assume...




... that their thinking is done by their head; 
it is actually done by the heart 
which first dictates the conclusion, 
then commands the head to provide 
the reasoning that will defend it."


- Anthony de Mello 

via Whisky River (Thanks again to this most inspirational blog)
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(Photo: Reflections. Taken for the C&C photo assignment that I forgot to post ...Ahem!)

The above quote pretty well sums up where I'm at in the proverbial a nutshell at the moment. You see there has finally been an uprising here at La Rivière. You may remember this post where I poured my heart out about the sadness of the French school system, and my ensuing désarroi...

Eh bien CA Y EST! In spite of my 'head's' better judgement and worries about how in goodness name I'm going to manage it all, let alone succeed in everything, I finally bit the bullet and formally announced my intentiondetermination to homeschool the messmonsters (in light of having no better formal schooling option in a vicinity of 150 kilometres). Yup! All 3 of them.  As from September 2010. THIS YEAR! 

Did I mention that I am STILL going to 'launch' my new idea in a couple of weeks and go all the way through with it as well?  While still painting, reopening my wee shop and organising a couple of exhibitions? Am I intending to find time to eat or sleep? Hmmm - Not sure if the last two options will be feasible ;-)

Let's just say that, in a burst of pure FOLIE, Heart quarters overthrew Headquarters, is now staging a full on seige, and will continue to hold out until Headquarters caves in and comes up with the goods on 'how to pull it all off seamlessly and without a hitch.' 

So when Jamie Ridler asked today in her 'Wishcasting Wednesday,' "What rules do you wish to make or break?" I had to respond with this:

This is the first time in my life when I'm actually sort of 'breaking rules.' Up till my early 20s (well, late teens maybe) I was always a terrible goody two shoes, afraid of 'not being liked' and admonished if I did 'wrong.' France has been good for me in that way. This is a country where EVERYBODY bends or shatters the rules. NO ONE obeys rules here. Except for the school one that says 'thou child shall remain inside these school buildings from 9-5.30 when s/he will be released to go home to study for another hour at least.'

You may not find that shocking. I was a grade A student, finished my degree, was Student President and in the School Debating Team, musicals etc etc etc..... AND I DO!

So I'm BREAKING this one.   

Now I'm going to take a big deep breath and say, "It's been nice knowing you. I'm never going to find enough time to blog again." 


NoN! NON! 
That's not what I want to say at all!!

I want to say...

...THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT YOU'VE SHOWN ME because your comments and shared concerns have been very influential in helping me make my decision.  


In the end though - it's just my messmonsters that seem sooooooo worth it!! 


Looking forward to catching up with you later in the week to share my 'other breath-taking news' and introduce you to two very inspirational women bloggers...


Bisous
xx

10 comments:

  1. I do so remember this post and all I can say is ....bravo!!!

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  2. Tu es très courageuse, ma belle! Je t'admire. Je n'ai aucun doute que la flexibilité que t'offre ce système serait impossible dans le système traditionnel.

    Quand au proverbe, je suis tellement, tellement, tellement d'accord avec toi. Je suis persuadée que ce sont les personnes qui reconnaissent l'intelligence émotionnelle (et pas uniquement intellectuelle) qui sont capable de comprendre ces mots.

    je t'embrasse fort.
    Lise

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  3. There, you've proven that we should cast aside a fair amount of reason and do our own thing. You're all the more yourself now for following the path you chose, and I suspect you are the sort who would always be tremendously busy anyhow, so busyness applied judiciously becomes you well. Well done for following through! And here's to another happy year of beautiful independence!

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  4. Dear Ange, thank you for stopping by the other day...you have been on my mind for a long long time :)And how appropriate today that I should return the visit, because one thing that I wanted to ask you, was if you are content with your decision that you made, and a year later, happy ~ and this pretty much answers my question! I decided a week ago, for several reasons, to un- enroll my boys from their school, and will be following your example here. Through a bit of virtual schooling that they offer here in the States.Hmmmm....with trepidation I embark on this journey! I feel coming here is a sign :)
    Enjoy your weekend, and I hope you find that popsicle maker there!
    Nathalie

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  5. At the time I thought your decision was amazing and I still think it is. I'm sure you don't want to make your 'classroom' public, but how I'd love to be a little mouse and listen in on your home school.
    When mine were younger I like to think I could have achieved what you are doing, but I'm honestly not sure.
    xox

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  6. how fun to go back in time
    how wonderful to honor the heart quarters or to let them rule the headquarters:-)
    I love that quote.

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  7. I love this post. I'm sorry I missed it the first time around. I'm so proud of you for following your convictions - you are amazing! The quote by Anthony de Mello is just magic :) Kx

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  8. Dear Ange,
    One thing in life I've found consistently that's true- if you follow your heart- you can't go wrong.Tremendous cheers for you in your decision and conviction to go through with it. Hope it has actually added to your family life and inspiration instead of taking away from it. Hope all is well - have a super weekend!! Just love all my writing goodies that I received from you. Still looking at my haul and thinking how I can use them best. They are just amazing!

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  9. I'm with you on the heart part! It's really a leap of faith. Homeschooling? Been there. We have two well-adjusted children, and they thank us constantly for the chance we gave them to 'learn at home'. The home IS where the heart IS.

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  10. It's amazing what you can do when you really believe it's worth doing. Bravo!!!

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Can't think of a famous quote that says 'communication makes the world go round' so you 'll just have to get my clumsy way of putting it instead ;-) Your comments are precious. Thanks for dropping by!