our parenting manifesto:: explore, dream, discover
J A N U A R Y 1 , 2 0 0 9
flower child
one family. seven continents.
welcome to our mad planet!
when pat and i first had maddi, we talked deeply, constantly, about what kind of parents we wanted to be.
both of our parents have set the bar incredibly high for us.
so we ask ourselves::
how can the journey of parenting help us grow deeper into each other?
how can we continue expanding our relationship as lovers, parents, family?
what kind of experiences do we want to have together?
how do we want our lives to look? to feel? to contribute to the greater whole?
we never want to forget what life is all about.
we measure our success based on joy, fulfillment, expansion, liberation.
as maddi has gotten older and started to develop her own incredible personality, we’ve really had to start thinking about the kinds of things we need to do in order to fully nurture the individuality, creativity, exploration, passion and freedom in her (values we are still trying to nurture in ourselves as individuals, partners and parents)
one night while we were eating dinner and drinking wine we started talking about our incredible little family.
overcome with a flood of appreciation and amazement at the little human beings we were surrounded by (maddi and my youngest siblings), we really discussed what the mean to us, and what we mean to them -- how we influence their reality, and vice versa.
pat said something that radically altered how i view parenting (and childhood)
he said, “my goal is to relate to them. to really get down into their worlds and then stretch them and make them as big as i possibly can.”
since that night we have grown, expanded, and evolved as parents, and as people. we are making the world our home, and want to raise our children around the globe. expanding upon that profound statement pat made not so long ago, our number one mission as parents, lovers and big siblings has become:
TO GET OUT INTO THE WIDE WILD WORLD – OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET EARTH –
TO STRETCH OURSELVES AND MAKE OUR LIVES, OUR HEART, OUR MINDS AS BIG AS WE POSSIBLY CAN
this blog is our trail of breadcrumbs. it serves to document, track and share our growth and experiences, and to inspire ourselves and others to live big and wide -- and as beautifully and meaningfully as possible.
in the immortal words of mark twain:
“twenty years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
so throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor.
catch the trade winds in your sails.
explore. dream. discover.”