28 April 2016

The Raw Files

I imported this post from my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family: The Raw Files. When I created this blog, I had big hopes of using it as a behind-the-scenes blog, a place where I could jot down my raw thoughts, somewhere where I could post things that didn’t quite belong on my main blog. It was a good idea which didn’t work because of lack of time. So I’ve closed the Raw Files blog and imported the posts into this one.


“Hey, girls!” I said as I entered the kitchen this morning. “Guess what? I’ve had a new idea.”

No one looked surprised. You see, I’m always having new ideas. So are my girls. I wonder why. Are unschoolers idea generators? Do we have more time than most people to mull things over, try things out? Are we used to thinking in a different way? Of course, not all idea generators are unschoolers. But could there be such a thing as an unschooling mindset? I came across a video about that recently. I must go back and watch it.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, my latest great idea.

“Do you want to hear my idea?” I said as I filled the kettle.

Yes, my girls did want to hear. We like sharing thoughts, exploring them to see where they lead.
“Did you know I have two unschooling blogs?”

Raised eyebrows. No, they didn’t. I bet you didn’t know that either. I’d almost forgotten about it myself. Quite some time ago, I claimed storiesofanunschoolingfamily.blogspot as my own. Of course, storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com has been mine forever. I didn’t know what I planned to do with my extra unschooling blog. I just created it and left it vacant. It’s been waiting. And now I have an idea about what I’m going to use it for.

“I’m going to write on my extra unschooling blog. Real writing. I miss writing. I want to mess about with words and ideas, try things out, jot things down, capture thoughts… all without having to worry about coming to some definite conclusion or making things look pretty with a perfectly structured post. I don’t want to tailor my posts around what people want to read. Write with freedom and see what happens.”

The girls nodded as they listened. And then we began discussing possible names for this blog. It has to be called Stories of an Unschooling Family, but it also needs a secondary title.

“Back Room? This blog will be my storehouse of ideas and thoughts. They might make it out into the front room in a polished form like in a video or podcast or blog post,” I said.

“Raw Thoughts? Raw Material? The Extra Bits? No, extra bits usually come after the finished product is launched, not before.”

We mulled over lots of ideas for names, and then I said,  “The Raw Files.”

Sophie the photographer grinned. “Perfect!”

“Yes, we can play around with raw files, use them for all kinds of things. They’re the raw material for something better.”

So I have a new blog. This is it. It’s called Stories of an Unschooling Family: The Raw Files. You can call it The Raw Files for short.

If you’d like to take a walk through my main unschooling blog and into this back room, you can. If you suddenly appear at the door, I’ll grin, put on the coffee and welcome you in. But if you don’t have time for ‘one more thing’, then that’s okay too. Work will go on even if no one visits.

So that’s it. My first post is written. Time for coffee.

READ  Spreading the Radical Unschooling Message

Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

4 Comments

  1. I love this! I can't wait to read your "raw" thoughts and I like the idea of an unstructured format. Plus I just always willing to explore something you create : )

    • Larkin,

      What a wonderful comment for my very first post! Thank you! Now I really do feel encouraged to write here on my new blog. I look forward to sharing more with you.

  2. If you see me at the back door, I'll be clapping and squealing with delight, before I throw my arms around you for a hug ???

Leave a Reply to Sue ElvisCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Go toTop