Personal Site Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Natural Life magazine Natural Life Blog Founder and editor of Life Learning Magazine Life Learning Blog Author of unschooling books Small/home business writer Founder and editor of Natural Child online magazine Interview from Life Learning Interview on Inspired Parenting Radio Interview on Radio Free School Blog Updates Facebook Page Follow me on Twitter

Musings, meanderings, wonderings and wanderings about unschooling, natural parenting, green living, social justice and more by writer, author and Natural Life magazine editor Wendy Priesnitz.  Archives - January, 2010 There is Comfort in Independence – January 22, 2010 The Canadian magazine industry has just lost a large amount of government funding. With the reorganization of two support programs, the rules have changed and the very large magazines won’t get as much money while the very small ones – mostly literary titles – will not receive any. Some of the latter, which have tiny numbers of subscribers and no advertising, will probably have to shut down. I can’t shed any tears for the former, since I’m not sure why taxpayers are supporting consumer magazines anyway. As for us, we’re fine because we don’t seek nor received any government funding. We couldn’t get it if we wanted it, since we serve an international audience and don’t fit the government’s “Canadian content” guidelines. But we value our independence too much to accept subsidies and prefer to sink or swim on the quality of information we provide to our readers. It’s the hard way to do things, but it’s worked for us for 34 years now. Posted: 2010/01/22 3:35PM A Sad Loss – January 21, 2010 This has been a sad week. We have all been trying to get our heads around the enormity of the tragedy in Haiti. And, as well as the horrific deaths of hundreds of thousands of people there, the world lost two great Canadian artists to cancer. One was a few years young than I and the other a few years older. On Tuesday, singer/songwriter Kate McGarrigle died at age 63. I first discovered the music of Kate and Anna McGarrigle in the late 1970s and it spoke to me on many levels...as a woman and young mother, as a Canadian, as a lover of folk music and harmonies. Here is an obit in case you do not know their work. Then, two days later, musician, writer and author Paul Quarrington died at age 56. Posted: 2010/01/21 10:10PM Integration, Not Balance – January 3, 2009 Work/life balance. Work/family balance. This is the time of year when people are resolving to get their lives together and become happier. I’m receiving a lot of emails and tweets and other advice – not to mention queries seeking advice – about how to create this mysterious state of being. At one time in my life, I thought balance was a worthwhile goal. I even advised women with home businesses about how to achieve it. But in those days, I didn’t really think about what the word meant. I guess I was talking about stability or at least equilibrium. But these days, I see balance as suggesting competing or opposing forces, and I am not willing to see my family and my work as competing...nor to do work that is not a passionate part of my life. I realize now that what I had – and what I wanted to share – all those years ago was not balance but integration. My life and my work were (and still are) parts of an integrated whole. Sometimes I worked long hours to meet a publishing deadline; other times, the scale tipped in the other direction and I was able to give more attention to my family and home. As a mom with a small home-based business, all the parts of my life were always gathered around me (and, yes, sometimes threatened to smother me). The balance I thought I was seeking was only obtainable for fleeting moments at the best, and my need for it was unrealistic. What I probably really wanted was control, which is, of course, just as elusive as balance. But now I know that what I valued was what I had: a wholistic life within which the various elements cooperated rather than competed. Then, as now, I had a life that was a relatively seamless integration of work, family, leisure. My work has always been my passion and feels like play more than a chore; new ideas intersect with old traditions; work colleagues often become my friends; family life has nurtured my work and vice versa. And for that I’m extremely grateful. Posted: 2010/01/03 8:15PM Return to current blog Comments? Suggestions? Email me copyright © Wendy Priesnitz 2010

Featured Posts It Hasn't Shut Me Up Slow Learning Ideology As a Barrier to Change Moving Toward Life Learning How Do They Know That? Instinct to Learn Just Living Life Unschooling is Not Regressive Shakespeare Didn't Blog Whose Learning Agenda Is It? Learning Doesn't Have to be Hard Not Yet a Learning Society Finding Balance Philosophical Babies, Arrogant Adults On the Meaning of Radical Disruptive Innovation Go Look it Up The Respect She Deserves ~ Monthly Archives Dec, 2009 Nov, 2009 Oct, 2009 Sept, 2009 Aug, 2009 July, 2009 June, 2009 May, 2009 April, 2009 March, 2009 Feb, 2009 Jan, 2009 Dec, 2008 Nov, 2008 Oct, 2008 Sept, 2008 Aug, 2008 July, 2008 June, 2008 May, 2008 Apr, 2008 Mar, 2008 Feb, 2008 Jan, 2008 Dec, 2007 Nov, 2007 Oct, 2007 Sept, 2007 Aug, 2007 July, 2007 June, 2007 May, 2007 April, 2007 Mar, 2007 Feb, 2007 Jan, 2007 Dec, 2006 Nov, 2006 Oct, 2006 Sept, 2006 Aug, 2006 July, 2006 June, 2006 May, 2006 April, 2006 Mar, 2006 Feb, 2006 Jan, 2006 Dec, 2005 Nov, 2005 Oct, 2005 Sept, 2005 Aug, 2005 July, 2005 June, 2005 May, 2005 April, 2005 Mar, 2005 Feb, 2005 Jan, 2005 Dec, 2004 Nov, 2004 Oct, 2004 Sept, 2004 Aug, 2004 July, 2004 June, 2004 May, 2004 April, 2004 ~ What I'm Reading (I am not an amazon.com affiliate and don't get/want a commission! Enjoy.) Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity From a Consumer Culture by Shannon Hayes (Left to Write Press, 2010) Voluntary Simplicity (Revised Second Edition) by Duane Elgin (Harper, 2010) Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden (Insomniac Press, 2007) ~ What I'm Listening To Dancer With Bruised Knees by Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Warner Music, 1977) Take Love Easy by Sophie Milman (Linus Entertainment, 2009) Half the Perfect World by Madeleine Peyroux (Rounder Records, 2006) ~ Fav Bookmarks MOTHERS The Mother/Daughter Project TED: Ideas Worth Spreading Organic Consumers Association We Are What We Do Mothers Movement Naomi Aldort Personalised Education Now Foundation for a Better Life Learning Freely Network What's On My Food? Cahoots Online Maqazine Elizabeth Pantley Landshare Zoe Weil Tricycle Editor's Blog Homeschooling Freethinkers AERO Alt Ed Essays ~ Fav Quotes Art, Writing, Creativity Life and Living Men and Women Learning Environment and Peace ~ Topics & Passions life learning / unschooling simplicity environment natural parenting creativity / writing books