Tales of a Lonely Army Wife No More

More food for thought on the concepts of authority, expertise, knowledge, power, and responsibility.  How do we know if we are knowledgeable?  When should we not trust ourselves?  How do we identify our own biases and knowledge gaps?  How do we know who is an expert?  How do we determine when it's correct to challenge authority/knowledge/expertise?

Discussion on expertise and knowledge gaps


And this article about the "mirage of knowledge" that Tom Nichol's discusses in his book The Death of Expertise 

More civil discourse: The Wake Up podcast

another little explanation of The Dunning-Kruger Effect

I've been writing a book for over 5 years now.  When I first started writing I would only go in spurts of manic typing followed by months of nothing.  Looking back on what I had written was always interesting because I don't remember what I wrote, and I am generally surprised at the insight and elegance of what I typed out.  I find old writings of mine all the time, and some of them I still get so anxious about sharing, but I noticed that comes with a theme of prior personal judgment of self.  One self in particular.  I have no faith in my inner teacher.  I am not the most confident person when it comes to sharing new ideas or my perceptions of situations.  Oh I'm definitely a bold and thoughtful person, but I don't want to discuss my reasons for my choices.  When I do, afterwards I get anxious about how others felt about what I said or how I said it.  I will tell myself I don't have valuable insight, everyone already knows what I know, no one wants to learn what I…

I had such a bizarre week.  One part of me was super excited about the next chapter, but the other part of me was terrified and negative.  I have to defend my ideas for several new ventures both in school for myself, and for unschooling for the kids.  OMG can I just quit instead?  This is like a nightmare for me!  Here's my dumb brain: I can't possibly do anything right.  I've never done anything right.  Everything I have been researching is wrong.  All my realizations are wrong.  I focus on roadblocks, not opportunities.  I see myself being defeated and unable to accomplish anything.  I am not finding the light at the end of the tunnel anymore.  I catch myself being an ass in my classes.  I don't want to talk to anyone or work with anyone.  I'm certain I will face criticism from anyone I talk openly to about my ideas, ambitions, goals, insights, and research on certain topics... so I don't talk at all and then get annoyed about the situation (all silently in m…

This is my 872nd post on this blog, and I don't even know what I want to say.  I started writing today because I don't want my whole life or everything I write to just be school assignments or unschooling/kids (that's why I created the unschooling blog).

My first week of the semester is over.  It's gonna be a good one.  I think I am going to be doing a helluva lot of reading and writing, but seeing as this is my 872nd blog post... shouldn't be an issue.

When I look back to my first semester and what I wrote on here... I just can't believe how I feel now... or that it's been an entire year since I started back up.  I have little anxiety now, but first semester I was crying damn near every day.  I never felt good enough, stressed about grades and performance, stressed about not belonging.  I wish I could say that was due to my age, but it was all about confidence in my level of intelligence.  I thought everyone was better than me at everything and I tricked m…

After tons of research and conversations, we've decided to try something completely new.  The kids are going to be home with me next year instead of attending school.  I'm writing all about it on another blog for anyone interested in following this little adventure :)  We probably will also have a few trips to Germany and elsewhere mixed in... SO EXCITED!  I get really nervous about telling people about my choices for some reason, but I'm working on it.  It was time to finally let everyone know.

I believe the main reason bullying has become such a problem is our continued mistreatment of children.  We are bullies to them.  We are sarcastic and cynical and disrespectful.  We lord our power over them.  We hit them.  We say everything we want, however we want, as loud as we want, and tell them they cannot respond similarly.  We tell them how they feel and how they should feel.  We tell them what their intentions are.  We don't ask them or help them think through these complicated issues.  We don't practice patience.  We publicly shame them.  We don't trust them or have faith in their abilities.  We tell them what they can wear and say and when they can eat, sleep, even go to the bathroom.  It's insane.  We say "you can be anything", but our actions are fear-filled and insecure and opposite our words.  We give them no autonomy or control over their own lives.

This is especially true during middle school years, when kids are earnestly trying to become in…