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365 Challenge
The Marsh | Day 118 of my 2023 Journal
It is very moist here. Rain comes in and out, grass full of dew in the morning, and the marsh vibrating with a baseline of water. We have been told it comes and goes with the seasons and that the spot of the castle, which is called an island literally, was picked originally by the Vikings because it was so well protected by the unpredictability of the landscape surrounding it.
Parachute guy, the women, and yet another bonfire | Day 117 of my 2023 Journal
During D-day, one of the parachuters had the bad luck of getting stuck hanging from the church tower. As the village at the time was taken over by the Germans, he hid himself in plain sight by pretending to be dead.
Climbing in Caen | Day 116 of my 2023 Journal
To be challenged into a comfort zone is a very healthy thing. When we do things we would normally not do, we discover new elements of our vulnerability and sometimes new strengths. Even in our lifestyle, we seem to fall into habits, and though they might be good, it is always healthy to challenge them, to stop and think about them, to learn new ways, and get new ideas.
The Bayeux Tapestry and how we absorb | Day 115 of my 2023 Journal
The way history is taught in schools, dripping from a curriculum, emerging from books written for “children” underestimating their intelligence will, for most students, forever be irrelevant. There is no way learning will ever be meaningful if it is not: 1. Voluntary - 2. Makes sense - 3.Is relevant.
Hotel Beaumont and Starwars | Day 114 of my 2023 Journal
Just like the Hotel Beaumont was in many ways a re-play, we can never enter the same river twice, and watching Star Wars with Fjord was like visiting the museum in the morning, a lovely new way of engaging with something known.
Mama Mia Marathon | Day 113 of my 2023 Journal
It is so lovely to see a group of teenagers not afraid to show up in their nightgown, not afraid to be silly, not afraid to wear a pink unicorn jumpsuit, not afraid to fall asleep during the movie, not afraid to ask “stupid” questions on the plot. It was especially lovely to hear them all sing along to the wonderful Abba songs.
Playtime | Day 112 of my 2023 Journal
Free play is at the center of Peter Gray's thinking, and I agree very much, especially with the “free” element. Play is this funny adult construction: We call it “play” when children interact with the world in their own free way, and we call it “creative space” or whatever when adults do the same. The looking down upon children's activities soaks through so many layers of adult thinking. Most adults find play a waste of time.
Happy Birthday to me | Day 111 of my 2023 Journal
On my birthday, honestly, a few days ago, as I was “falling behind,” I did not have to plan anything. The castle stay is already a party, and there is no way my birthday is more important than my children hanging out with their new friends.
The Big Bad Curriculum | Day 110 of my 2023 Journal
Children are fed into the schooling machine, and inside that machine is an agenda, a vast and complex and not very transparent secret agenda called The Curriculum. Everyone working for the machine has to serve The Curriculum.
The deschooling onion | Day 109 of my 2023 Journal
As my parents divorced early in my life and hated each other throughout the rest of their time, my little person became a battlefield. They would always look for the other person in me and come after me if they saw an influence they did not like.
Well Behaved | Day 108 of my 2023 Journal
Free children just live their lives and can read a room, take care of others, keep themselves clean and healthy, and create good vibes and a meaningful life for themselves and those around them. It is not behaving. It is living.
The Vikings were here | Day 107 of my 2023 Journal
And as the Vikings left Scandinavia to settle and travel all over, I sometimes feel I never really left my culture. I just built upon old traditions when I became nomadic. Our friends in Catalunia always called us Los Vikingos. Maybe it is not all that wrong.
Co-living with freedom people | Day 106 of my 2023 Journal
We are all freedom people. This makes it all very easy. We are probably all grateful to spend time together fighting off similar demons while living in a large group for a while.
Climbing in Caen of my 2023 Journal
To be challenged into a comfort zone is a very healthy thing. When we do things we would normally not do, we discover new elements of our vulnerability and sometimes new strengths.
Arriving at the Castle-event | Day 105 of my 2023 Journal
The place itself is simple and beautiful, very rural. The landscape of marsh, trees, birds singing, and storks. Green beautiful springtime. The castle is cozy and welcoming. And the people were, for some part, people we had already met, some of them new to us.
I was, in many ways, a strange child | Day 104 of my 2023 Journal
When I met the community of homeschoolers, it was like walking through the closet in the first Narnia book (the darkness and Insecurity of the radical choice) to find myself in a sparking and beautiful social world of what I today call Real People.
The French Alpes - Sometimes van life is just perfect | Day 103 of my 2023 Journal
We ARE willing to go far outside our comfort zone, yet we also want to focus on what matters the most in the given situation.
We realize finding peace is very much about being ready. Ready to be ready.
We realize finding peace is very much about being ready. Ready to be ready.
Home Sweet Roadtrip | Day 102 of my 2023 Journal
Viareggio was a lovely rest; oh, did we enjoy sleeping in our own beds. We chose this spot because there was some street art at the harbor and some sculptures on the mole.
The privilege of documents | Day 101 of my 2023 Journal
Five years on the roads, and I see the pattern. The marketplaces are worked by the same products and same people; more or less, the landmarks and main evening hangout places worked by the same group, selling the same products, just as the white blankets with sneakers and bags are worked by the same people. People without documents. Good people without options.
One hundred | Day 100 of my 2023 Journal
In the silent chapel, one message came clearly to me: Let peace fall upon you. In my life, it was my grandmother's words, and now God did a replay for me, reminding me of peace. I always pray for clarity, for help to find my way through life, and the message was to let peace enter.
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Hi, I'm Cecilie Conrad
Cancer-surviving psychologist, former single-parent; co-sleeping, yogi, gluten-free, primarily plant-eating; happily married, stay-at-home, organic barefooted hippie and mother of four, living in a bus, knitting teddy bears and learning languages, counseling and enjoying sunsets.
Coaching: Do You Need My Help?
I advise personally and from the heart, present and releasing. I know the way out of the darkness and the frustrations, the way to your true self, the way you must go to live an amazing life.
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