Home, Education, and Nature: Reflections on Community

We sat in the circle and sang the song. A sweet opening to a day, a Tuesday, when our homeschool reading group meets.

Good morning dear earth
Good morning dear sky
Here are my friends and here am I.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “The world is round so that friendship may encircle it.”

I looked around at the friendly faces and felt waves of gratitude. We are one year and a half into homeschooling, and I find these little peak experiences to be more and more frequent. I have been so enchanted by the other homes where our group has gathered, each one offering its own atmosphere of warmth, creativity, and care.

In these unhurried moments I feel the full metaphoric strength of a circle, the bounds and bonds that we choose to embrace so that life can ramify inside and ignite an ongoing direction.

“Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.” -Black Elk

It was our turn to host for the first time. I could smell the pumpkin muffins warming in the oven.

Emerson said, “A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”

With Saturn now back in Pisces beside Neptune, it feels like a meaningful time to revisit our dreams and ideals, to bring structure and devotion to the things that once felt only imagined.

Psychologist William Damon writes that ideals act as inner beacons, luminous points that give purpose and coherence to our actions. When we hold them close, they orient us toward meaning in even the smallest choices.

I was so inspired by this interview with him while doing dishes the other night!

Connecting with these ideals simply, even reducing them to three words or so, allows a living meaning to take root in you so that it quietly guides your behavior and steers your choices. Words like home, education, and romance have become part of my guiding light, quiet reminders of how I want to live and what I want to nurture.

Small evidence of its guidance appears in the cozy home, the innovative games that are brought into the circle, the creative modes of patience, listening, and connecting with the kids. All of this inspires a feeling of romantic lift. It continues into the sunset as I play hide and seek with Geo and the dog. Into the evening with a yummy dinner. Into the odd hours of the night when Harry and I woke up to witness the large full Taurus Moon encircled in- what? a rainbow halo!!

I took this with my ‘dumbphone’. If you zoom in you can see the full spectrum of color.
Talk about a T(Aura!)s Full Moon.

The circle finds me again, colorful and ordered; the shape of strength, unity, and home. I sat against my screen door with my three black cats, moonstruck to the romantic education of nature.

Good evening earth
Good evening sky
Here are my friends (meow)
and here am I.

9 responses to “Home, Education, and Nature: Reflections on Community”

  1.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thank You Tess,

    This is the message I required this morning.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tess Hadley Durand Avatar

      ❤ I am so happy to hear!

      Like

  2. Mark Durand Avatar
    Mark Durand

    This is a lovely compliment to the nationwide election results last night. Macrocosm meet Microcosm. I noticed the big full moon last night – as Dylan put the Moon was high in its Glory, over the Western Sky” and thought about the election.

    The quote “ ideals act as inner beacon, luminous points that give purpose coherence and to our actions” I think speaks to how a Zohran Momdani was able to inspire a great city to take the action of electing him against all odds foretold.

    ideals act as inner beacons, luminous points that give purpose and coherence to our actions. When we hold them close, they orient us toward meaning in even the smallest choices. >

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tess Hadley Durand Avatar

      Wow yes! Amazing. And Momdani has natal Neptune (ideals) conjunct North node (one’s north star, so to speak) – the same signature as Jimmy Carter!

      Like

      1. Mark Durand Avatar
        Mark Durand

        👍😎

        >

        Liked by 1 person

  3. andybuz78 Avatar

    What a beautiful reflection, Tess! Your words capture so tenderly the rhythm of home, learning, and the natural world intertwining. The circle you describe of friends, children, the earth and sky feels sacred and alive. I am especially drawn to how you bring together the simple songs, pumpkin muffins, moonlit moments and the idea of ideals as inner beacons guiding our daily acts.

    For me, homeschooling has been not just a matter of pedagogy but an invitation to live more fully into relation with each other, with place, with time. Your piece reminded me that education at its best is not separate from life but deeply woven into the fabric of our being and the fabric of community.

    I loved the images of the full Taurus Moon halo, the mantra song at the morning circle, the cats beside the screen door. Each moment grounds you in the here and now while pointing toward a deeper sense of belonging. You have captured a harmony of inner and outer worlds, the microcosm and the macrocosm echoing each other.

    Thank you for this luminous piece. It invites one to slow down, breathe, listen, and remember what matters.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tess Hadley Durand Avatar

      I am so charmed by this response, Andy, thank you so much. I couldn’t agree more. Your words of it being “an invitation to live more fully in relation with each other, with place, with time” is precisely what drives my interest in natural philosophy, which I attempt to ground in the ‘physics’ of the zodiac. It is amazing how much of an infinite gift homeschooling is in exploring this rich terrain. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  4. gracegunn11 Avatar
    gracegunn11

    So Wonderful….I look forward to listening to that interview!

    Love this scene!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tess Hadley Durand Avatar

      ❤ It is so worth it!

      Like

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