It is well with my soul...
I am thankful for a bladder and a ladder this early morning that got me out of bed and down from the loft to write at 5am. When your bed is 7 feet up, it’s not as simple as rolling off the edge and stumbling a few steps to the bathroom. So by the time I mastered the task, I was awake. QUICK, now to write this fast before a kid wakes.
There are so many things that have happened since I last wrote from Idaho. We’ve been blessed in many ways!
Sometimes it feels like life has you in a holding pattern and things are moving so slow, then all of a sudden they accelerate. Or you look up to realize, wow, we’re actually doing it! The entrepreneur struggle is far from over, but we’re taking stock that prayers are indeed being answered and things are coming to fruition to actualize a dream that was set on our heart years ago.
A few updates:
We moved! We’ve landed in our new spot with Rusty, our little (big) tiny house. She’s a big beast for a tiny, and we’re thankful to finally be living in her.
We’re so thankful for this new spot, our new landlords, and to have an indoor toilet and plumbing, yay for hot water! There’s something about not having to put a coat on to go to the bathroom at night that feels really bougie. The full tiny house tour will be coming soon, we’ve still got lots of little projects left to finish.
The last few months we’ve lived in guest bedrooms, an airstream, a tiny guest house and a very boon-docked, low amenity, tiny house nestled near a creek on our friend’s beautiful property. But it wasn’t her forever home and we could not have moved at a better time. With all the recent rains, Rusty would be a houseboat right now, floating through the Santa Monica mountain creek-ways. Who knows if Rusty will ever have a forever home. It may be our mission to tow this beaut around the country and become Behere village planters.
For now, we are building our OG location in the Conejo Valley/VC area, which just feels so right. After all, these are my stomping grounds. What better way to gift back to the community that gave me such a wonderful childhood than to help more local families in these ever-changing times.
The workforce has changed a lot since I was a child in the 80’s and 90’s, and the traditional education system, in its current form, will not prepare this next generation for the future of work. Creativity and independent thinking are not easily nurtured in institutional forms of working and learning, but these are exactly the soft skills that we need to hold our edge over machine-learning and artificial intelligence. I am not trying to scare you, but if you want your child to be a creative and truly innovative problem-solver, then their educational journey also must look like an ongoing innovative (not templated) experience. “One size fits all” breeds homogeneity, not ingenuity. Let your kid be a kid as long as possible. Throw out the rigor, give them PLAY, until age seven if you can hold out. The sooner they’re exposed to forced “sit down style” education and the “there is just 1 right answer-academics” (ahem, worksheets and tests), the sooner their genius levels will decrease. I’m not kidding. Memorization masters are not the entrepreneurs of our future.
If you’re making the transition from institutional education to a private home-based version, consider us your bridge across. We have drop-off enrichment classes for your children and wellness workshops for you, as well as homeschool coaching services to help build your confidence as a facilitator of your child’s education. We’re not a school, but we’re your biggest hype team that may just replace your need for a school. Repeat after me, “education and school are not the same thing.”
We’re using the month of January to get the land set up for workshops which will resume February 7th. We are excited to no longer have to operate our classes at a public park, but we sure have our work cut out of for us!
OUR NEEDS:
We will be building some privacy structures and boundary lines/gates on the property, setting up the glamp tents, and relocating a play structure. We need at least 4 adults Saturday the 14th and the 21st to assist us in this work. And if you have any extra pallets or 4x4’s, please message me. We’re also in need of a tiny little wooden shed for a bath / storage house. All acts of service will earn you Behere credits towards free workshops for you or your child.
We continue to be provided for in ways beyond our understanding, and continue to grow our trust muscle. These are refining times, that’s for sure. But we chose this uncharted path and are very loyal & stubborn people.
I am enjoying the duality of these days. Life can be so hard and so good, all at the same time. Joy and pain are not mutually exclusive, they’re like best friends that take turns finishing each other’s sentences.
As you plan out your 2023 calendar of events, I hope you’ll budget some time to come see us on January 28th for our Back to Behere (“open house”) for returning and interested members. Details are on our website. Ongoing Enrichment workshops start again February 7 in our new spot.
We’ve got an amazing digital detox parent workshop on the 18th led by a very talented MFT, and friend of mine, Kelly Nicassio. Kelly will help us learn new strategies for reducing and managing screen time in our homes. With all the rain lately, it’s easy to just give the kids a show, a movie, or video game, to ease the pain of hearing their cries of boredom or fights (gah, sibling rivalry), I am right there with you! But I have recently seen the other side. I have witnessed 11 children, ages 6-11, knit with intense focus for 3 hours during our knitting camp last week. These kids impressed me with a high level of frustration tolerance, patience and perseverance. I am going to wager most of these kids opt outside more than they do consume on screens, and I know all of our children have a desire for wander and creativity if we just give them the space to find it.
I feel so immensely grateful for all of you that I know and those of you that I will soon meet as we build this beautiful community supporting families looking for new ways to work and learn.
I hope to see you this month!
Love you, mean it!
-Brooke
Founding mother of Behere