Cultivating in our Children a Profound Purpose

Hello Clarified Family & Happy New Year!

The New year is a time to pause and reflect on life’s path. A transition that urges us to slowdown and contemplate what we want for our future, especially for our children. Is all we want for them math and spelling - or do we want more?

I’ve recently been reading Tolstoy’s later works where he contemplates the meaning of life. Tolstoy, know for his novels War & Peace and Anna Karenina, found himself in a deep depression later in life. As seems so common, fame and fortune does not make one happy. Rather, many find themselves in darkness. Still, dark times often lead to the most important realizations and great works. Tolstoy found a renewed faith as he toiled over what should drive our existence here. Tolstoy writes:

The Meaning of Life is to Support it [life]

When I contemplate goals for my children’s education, they extend beyond academics. Of course I want them reading and performing math at grade level but these represent the bare minimum of what I want for them.

I want them to “support life”, to help others, and to have a passion for service in their hearts.

Art work by Sunshine (Age 6)

So this week as you contemplate the New Year. Also think on your children’s future. I encourage you to do so with higher and more purposeful intentions than get into a good college. How do you want them to feel about learning feel about the world and others? Think bigger and with more consideration for the world you will leave behind.

Here’s a sample of my vision board for my children

1. Express themselves through writing, art, & music

2. A driving desire to leave the world a better place than when they arrived

3. A passion for serving others

4. The joy that comes from accomplishing something truly hard

5. Know the story of the world; that it is incomplete, ever-changing, & yet to be written

6. Know how financial systems work - how to start a business, manage taxes, and adapt to constantly evolving system

7. Learn to manage their days, focusing on what is important rather than what is urgent

8. Capacity to do Deep Work

9. Know when it’s time to work harder & when it’s time to walk away

10. Think for themselves through Logic & Reason

11. Capable of reading, understanding, and being moved by classics in fiction, science, & politics

12. Listen with a compassionate ear

13. Able to entertain ideas without accepting them

14. Able to defend themselves

15. Understand how people think and how to give them what they need (not necessarily what they want)

16. How to love and be loved

What’s on your vision board?

~Claire Honeycutt

Consider joining 𝓒𝖑𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖎𝓔𝒅 and experience the magic of joyful learning for yourself. Paid members receive Exclusive Education Strategies, Thriving Learner Workshops, Masterpiece Lesson Plans, 24/7 Community & Science of Kids. Can’t wait to meet you!♥️

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