Tag: Well being

Parenting, Personal, Well being

Unschooling Diaries #8: Busting the Biggest Homeschooling Myth

Pihu

The most prominent question that I have been asked when it comes to homeschooling is:- Won’t it impact your social life? And the concern here is understandable since the kid spends a considerable amount of time indoors and has no structured institution to go to. But may I first ask how exactly is this so-called ‘institution’ helping in developing the child’s social skills? Do you meet new people? Is there any real exposure to the outside world? No, they don’t and no there isn’t. 

Homeschooling or Unschooling on the other hand has real outside exposure. The lack of structure or timetable calls for unexpected situations and meeting new people. We learn who to trust and who not to trust. Some social skills that I have learned are:-

  1. I have improved my English
  2. I am not as shy anymore
  3. I can talk to people more openly now
  4. I now know how to dress properly and carry myself
  5. I am more confident

Some things I hope to learn

  1. To be more creative and resourceful
  2. To get over my shyness completely
  3. Be more direct

Meeting the same people every day for years won’t help you learn anything or gain life experiences. But getting out of your comfort zone -which you have to in homeschooling- most certainly will. So what do you think? Don’t you agree that social skills are important and they are in fact completely ignored in school? Please write your thoughts in the comment section below. 

 

Personal, Well being, Writing

Unschooling Diaries #4: I Wrote A Poem!

Pihu

Bittersweet Life

Oh! When I read a book, I feel a hole in my soul,

The longing for a thrill, a tale full of woe,

A countryside affair, or a tragical romance,

stories of armored knights, happenings in a magical land,

Every day can be an adventure, every difficulty a lesson,

We are delinquents, Slave to our thoughts,

When will we break free the mental prison,

And rise to see the paradise around us,

My experiences make me, my imagination defines me,

When my kingdom crumbles and laurels turn to dust,

Only thing I will remember, only one thing will matter, 

The day I kept the book down and started living it

-Pihu

Personal, Well being

Unschooling Diaries #3: Impermanence

Pihu

A continuation of the previous post…

Impermanence means inconstant, transient, evanescent, or in simple words ‘everything is constantly changing.’  This is one more thing I have noticed in my time as a homeschooler. Look around you, what do you think will remain forever? Family, Trees, the Earth, oceans, The universe, Nothing.  

And I believe that there would be no reason to live if everything was always the same. Aren’t we already dead then? There is this one question I ask myself all the time: When was the last time you did something for the first time? Gets me always, and the answer is, I simply don’t remember. What is your answer? Tell me please, I am waiting for it like a child waiting for a freshly baked cake to come out from the oven.

Personal, Well being

The Natural Beauty Around Us

Pihu

Today I wanted to write something other than professional blogs. About something, I have noticed over the past few months. 

We all sit at our work desks or lie in our beds dreaming about camping trips or imagining digging our feet in the wet beach sand. Enjoying the joy of nature. But in thinking of faraway places we overlook the natural beauty around us. 

Just for example – The plants lining the road, a small vein around the window, or even the sunlight have the same magnificence and power of lightning up the human spirit. So, just take a moment to connect and step outside the house, noticing the birds, the sunlight, and all the small things we take for granted in our life. 

  • Benefits of connecting with nature

So, why should we appreciate the environment in the first place? A recently published study shows that spending only 2 hours in a week outdoors benefits health and well-being. A few examples being:-

  1. Lifts Mood and decreases the tendency of depression and anxiety.
  1. Calms the mind and relieves stress by reducing the amount of cortisol. 
  1. Humbles oneself by making us realize there is something a lot bigger and powerful than us.
  1. Taking a small break and looking at the sky, trees, or birds while performing strenuous mental activity, helps revamp, refocus, and relax the mind. 
  1. Reduces high Bp and risk of heart diseases. 
  1. Being in nature 20 minutes per day decreases the chance of falling sick.

Now we know the benefits of nature. So, let us read a few simple tricks which will help you to connect with the flora and fauna in your hustling and bustling city. 

  • Tips to appreciate with the Environment 
  1. Go for a walk
  1. Wake up early
  1. Put some plants
  1. Feed and help stray animals
  1. Adopt a pet
  1. Spend some time in a park 
  1. Volunteer!
  1. Meditate ( Mindfulness plays an important role in appreciating and experiencing our surroundings)

Conclusion

Isn’t taking out time to embrace nature just wonderful? We might not experience the same joy as we would standing on a beach or camping in a forest. But make the best of what is available, right? What do you think?  Please drop your thoughts, suggestions, and what you believe I should write next in the comment section below. 

Other

White Lie: The Odious Secret of Dairy Industry

Pihu

Happy cows only exist in the images on milk cartons

Milk. Milk has been so articulately bred in the workings of daily life, that existence without it is impossible to imagine but is it? Humans, like every other mammal SHOULDN’T, drink milk after it stops breastfeeding. So why is milk consumed anyway? The only answer that comes to mind is: to satisfy the human want of taste. Yes, dairy products have no significant health benefits which cannot be taken from more sustainable, ethical, and healthier alternatives.  Thus, leaving us with one option – taste, but is it worth it? Does the satisfaction of pleasure compensate for the heinous lies this industry hides? 

The Procedure

Before the commercialization of milk, A normal lactation procedure would be as follows. 

The newborn calf will be kept near his mother or other calves. He/she will be allowed to graze and eat fresh grass. As the no. of animals would be less, they will receive affection and love from their human caretakers. The female cattle will reach puberty at the age of anywhere between 16-40 months. After around 4 months she would start reproducing. After 9 months of the pregnancy, she will give birth and produce milk. Half of it will be kept for the calf and the rest humans will take.

An increase in population and demand for milk and our refusal to adapt and adjust has resulted in the following. 

Industrialization of not milk – but cattle.

Industrialization means the extensive reorganization of something for the purpose of manufacturing. And this is exactly what has happened; Cows are not living beings anymore but just milk-manufacturing money-making machines.  Read on to find out how.

If the newborn calf is a male, they will abandon him on the road only a day after he is born. Where he will either starve to death or be slaughtered for meat. 

If it is a female, she will be locked in a small cage. So, the humans can keep the milk for themselves. When she grows up she will suffer the same fate as her poor mother…

The mother who has been separated from her child which she carried inside her body for 10 tiring months,  is immediately made to lactate. Now, the lactating process if done frequently(which it is, as the cows are made artificially pregnant again and again) causes pain, mastitis, and premature death. With help of antibiotics and hormones, the milk production in a bovine’s body has doubled than what it would normally be. Which leads to serious serious damage to their body. Not only this but the cows are kept in uninhabitable conditions. Covered in their own filth they are not treated unless it is affecting the quantity of milk. Kept in small cemented compartments, never made to see the light, they are fed in most cases only dry grass. Even if she makes it alive to menopause, like her calf she will be abandoned to either starve or be slaughtered. 

Is there a need to say anything else? Now that you know the truth, it is your decision to make: to buy dairy or… boycott dairy.