The Essence of Great Knowledge

I went to a open lecture yesterday at Cornell. In honor of Earth Day, William A. McDonough, was the guest speaker at the annual Distinguished Environmental Lecture. McDonough, a sustainably focused architect who wrote Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things spoke openly about the need for a shift of consciousness in the design world. His book is made entirely out of recycled plastic and is a “manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.” It was an uplifting and inspirational afternoon and provided welcomed relief from all the doom and gloom I’ve been hearing concerning the environment and economy.

In preparation for my afternoon, I put on my favorite earrings, wiped the baby guck off my shoulder and walked onto campus. It was exhilarating to a part of the late afternoon rush. I have always loved learning and universities are the epicenters of amazing ideas, innovative people and fabulous works of art, be it a sculpture or a well-sculpted thesis. I felt young and spirited and was reminded of my own university days.

In fact, it felt so good to be meandering around the meticulously groomed campus that my mind started to wander into the ‘grass is greener’ mode. I wondered why I didn’t work harder so I could attend somewhere prestigious like Cornell (thinking back I could barely see the forest from the trees as a teenager); and I wondered why I didn’t continue my education when my parents might have helped pay for graduate school (I had just spent 17 years in institutional education: I wanted out!). I would love to go back to graduate school and have the opportunity to study as a mature student who is sure of her focus and has a greater understanding of the precious gift education can be, and I know I could go back to school, if that’s what I really want to happen.

I might someday, but right now it doesn’t fit into the plan. We are trying to create financial freedom which includes paying down our school loans and mortgage. Accruing more debt from school loans is not the direction we want to head. Our elemental goal is self-sufficiency and we include finances into our model of sustainability. I do not want to take out large school loans and then feel pressured to get a job to pay them down. I want to learn for the pure thrill of it, not to pay back loans.

Another reason I’m not pursuing school is that I am consciously shifting into a new educational framework that does not rely upon institutions, paperwork or degrees as the end all of educational opportunities. I’m watching my children learn the vast lessons of the Universe simply by waking up in the morning and realizing that I can educate myself also. It’s not my kids who need to be deschooled, it’s me.

As I passed undergraduate hipsters and scholarly professors, I remembered all the reasons why I’m choosing not to go back to school and that felt much better. I found myself in the present moment, spending time in the very environment I had moments ago been lamenting not spending time in. Here I was, attending a leading edge environmental lecture alongside some of Cornell’s top architectural and environmental faculty and students.

Wow! This is amazing! I already have what I wanted!

Lesson learned: I don’t have to go deliriously in debt to reap the essence of higher education. I don’t need to take tests or feel the stress of deadlines. I was already here and the information, and more importantly, the feeling is free!

There were a few, less enthused students sitting next to me and it’s my guess they were required to attend. I could feel them watching me frantically scribbling notes, as I let out audible gasps as McDonough showed some of his amazing sustainable architectural designs. I jumped up to give a standing ovation without realizing my papers were on my lap and they flew everywhere (true story). They thought I was a kook, and they could be right: passion can sometimes be confused with hereticy and as Seth Goodin tells it in his fantastic book, Tribes, heretics are what this modern world needs, so it’s all good.

These are some of the reasons I am giving my children the freedom to learn through living rather than imposing a limited, and most likely, outdated, curriculum. I don’t think there is a curriculum available that could accurately prepare children for the current world. Technology and ideas are moving way too fast to keep up by textbooks.

Examples:

We are in a new era and it is to the benefit of all involved to acknowledge that “you cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” (Einstein) And it’s so true. We’re in a doozy of an educational crisis, on top of a doozy of an economic crisis, on top of a doozy of an environmental crisis, on top of a doozy of a food and health crisis…….you get the picture, in fact your living the picture! Our educational problems won’t be solved sitting in classrooms and our food and farming crisis won’t be solved by eating pesticide ridden veggies shipped half way across the world. This is not meant to overwhelm, although I can certainly relate to feeling overwhelmed by it all, but my point is to motivate us to think outside the box and to consciously create a new paradigm.

Life is amazingly dynamic and the human experience is infinite in its desire to know more, learn better and find comfort and happiness. We no longer need to rely on outdated paradigms. Once, if you wanted to be published you needed a publisher; now you only need a blog. Once you needed a golden ticket and a thick wallet to hear some of the world’s top professors speak; now you can watch them on youtube. The internet is making information readily and easily available and I am so excited to live in a time where I can create my own life curriculum and feel the thrill as I consciously live the powerful paradigm shift I am modeling for my children, our next generation. The essence of anything and everything is available to anyone at anytime. All you have to do is close your eyes and imagine, or read a great book, or in my case, attend a lecture. Essentially, I’m just a student of great knowledge, except I’m 100k closer to financial freedom and that makes me feel really smart.

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Tagged as: consciousness, eco-designs, education, lecture, paradigm shift, sustainability, unschooling, William McDonough