good to be back

Yes, I'm back!  I have really missed writing here.  Why have I been gone so long?

Well, two reasons: I had a long, drawn-out pregnancy that I really wanted to enjoy, but it was so difficult (a more detailed story of that and the birth, which went fine in the end, later...) that I couldn't really focus on much other than myself, my body, my family, and the little life that was growing in me, more, and more, and more, and more!

laboring away with my enormous melon of a belly and my sweet supportive husband Atom

Tammi checking fetal heart tones

our boy the moment after he was born, when he still had no name...

Takoda Din was born early March 7, at home in a birth tub, almost a full month after his supposed 'due date', after a very long and arduous labor, weighing in at exactly 9.5 pounds.  It was awesome, exhausting, and so incredibly empowering!  My lovely, amazing, and very very patient midwife, Tammi McKinley, was at my house for over 36 hours and never once made me feel pressured in the least.  Atom kept telling me all the right things just when I needed to hear them, when I was totally exhausted and felt like I couldn't go on. 

Reason 2:  So, after I got that over and done with and rebirthed myself yet again, I came to Blogger, and things were all messed up!  They had changed things, and there were some weird bugs going on, and I was so frustrated!  I thought 'What is goin' on here?!  Am I going to have to switch everything over to Word Press?  Or to iWeb where I have much more control of everything visually?'  But, I guess Blogger was having some growing pains too.  But now, today I came here, and everything's more new and pretty fabulous so far!  So I posted something I'd had in draft for months (the Race to Nowhere post).  Thank goodness they got it together, because I really need to write.  And you can tell I'm really excited, because I usually abhor gratuitous use of explanation points!  :)

That's it for now, just wanted to fill you in, in case you've been wondering what happened to me, or happen to notice the huge gap in time here....

'Til next time.... I promise it won't be another 8 months.

And here he is just two weeks ago!  My beautiful angel, baby #3.

sitting up independently for the first time really, at our friend's house <3

a rescue capsule named phoenix

Unexpectedly, shortly after 5 this morning, as I'm doing my daily reading of news, emails and such, I find myself with tears pouring down my face as I come across the story of the first 7 of 33 Chilean miners who were rescued after 69 days of being trapped when 700,000 tons of rock collapsed on August 5, trapping them in the lower reaches of the mine.  That is simply incredible - that's over 2 months that they have been trapped down there!  I can't even begin to imagine what those men have been going through.  What on earth have they been doing with themselves, day in and day out, with no outward indication of course of the passing of days, and just waiting, waiting, waiting?!  Unfathomable.

AP photo: Chile's President Sebastian Pinera embraces Florencio Antonio Avalos Silva, the first miner to be rescued.

 How much food and liquids were they able to get down to these men after discovering on August 22 that they indeed were still alive?  Did they have room to move around down there?  Were their head lamps working still or were they in pitch blackness?

[As a follow-up, post-post, here's a link to an article that addresses these questions...]

I think part of the reason this struck me so hard is because mining is in my blood - my grandfather was the youngest of a family of Irish coal miners, the first to be freed from that hell, and the first to attend school beyond the age of 12.  His father and brothers all worked in the mines, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, coming home completely black, covered in coal dust - the only thing you could see was their eyes and their teeth - only to return again bright and early the next morning and do it all over again.  I wonder how many miners were buried alive back in the day.  They certainly did not have the technology then that afforded these guys a safe return.  Of course, part of the culprit in the increased frequency of mining accidents is that many mountains, like this one, have been overexploited.  In this case, part of what made the rescue operation difficult and risky is finding sufficient virgin rock through which to drill the escape shaft.

I know these guys were mining copper and gold, not coal, and that work conditions have probably improved a little, but I'm sure it's still extremely hard work, and before this happened, these guys were "nobodys", just busting their tails to support their families.  Now, after enduring hell for over 3 months, they emerge to find themselves thrust into the world spotlight, being welcomed to the surface by their country's President and Vice President!  That's another potential tangent that I won't veer onto, but what a surreal experience it must be.  I also won't veer onto the conundrum that is our industrial/consumerist society, of which I, admittedly, am a part, that drives such mining operations. 

The other thing, silly enough, that sent another wave of tears down my face, is that the 13-foot rescue capsule, used to travel the 2,041 feet down the carefully crafted escape shaft and bring each of these 33 men to safety, one by one, is named Phoenix.  Just perfect.  And I was 33 when I brought this beautiful boy named Phoenix into the world.  (And 13 when I met his papa.  Yes, I have a bit of a thing with numbers...)

Miner Osman Araya arrives as the sixth miner to be hoisted to the surface in Copiapo October 13, 2010. Chile's 33 trapped miners are set to travel nearly half a mile through solid rock in a shaft just wider than a man's shoulders on Tuesday night, as their two month ordeal after a cave-in draws to an end.

REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE - Tags: DISASTER BUSINESS)

It's nice to see a story of hope and solidarity, and miracle even, amongst the barrage of hateful happenings of late.  I hope that through last night the rescue operations have proceeded smoothly, and I send love and healing to the men who survived this amazing ordeal.  I'm sure their lives will never be the same.

Here's a link to the full article that I read this morning on Yahoo news.

the child-driven education: Sugata Mitra on TED.com

This is a phenomenal experiment.  The results are not at all surprising really, and speak volumes to the potential in children, and the potential of the internet to (further) revolutionize the globe.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

making baby

Wow.  Talk about 'where does the time go?'... and two, almost three more months have flown right on by...

Where have I been?  The garden pic from my last post looks so cute and demure compared to the jungle that is out there right now.  Mother Nature truly is amazing.  Yes, there's been lots of growth going on, outside and in.  And that's where I've been.  Making baby.  I'm preggo with number three!  I'm still in a bit of shock hearing myself say this.  I always knew I would have two, and I guess occasionally I entertained the idea that I might have one more than that, if things were going really well.  After Phoenix was born, I was pretty adamant that there would be no more.  But Atom and Adobe both worked on me for awhile, and eventually, especially as Phoenix works his way out of babyhood, the idea of doing it just one more time started to sound appealing.  And here we are.  I have to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed at the prospect of being a mother of three - already, two is quite a job.  But, I figure that a woman who can manage three children has a different command of the world.

This was the roughest first trimester yet.  I have been exhausted.  And puky feeling.  And generally feeling like a zombie.  Luckily, I have not actually thrown up once.  Now I am starting to see the light of day, although I must admit I'm still pretty worthless if I don't have coffee in my system by about 2 in the afternoon.  I've been totally off my routine.  But I feel so fortunate to be able to just be, go with the flow, and allow myself all the extra rest my body has needed, and really experience what my body is going through.

Making a baby is alot of work!  It is truly amazing if you think about what is taking place in a woman's body during this time.  We all begin, every single one of us (our current physical selves, anyway), from a single cell!  Yes, we all learn about this at some point in biology, but how many times in your life have you really stopped to consider this fact and marvel at how miraculous that is? 

And then, the being grows, and grows, and grows.  As a mother, this is a truly surreal experience.  First there are the symptoms and first signs of change happening with your body.  Then, you start to feel little flutters of undeniable evidence that there is indeed another being coming alive inside of you.  The bump begins to grow, and grow, and grow.  Next thing you know, you have this 'alien life form' completely taking over your body.   I am especially fascinated by imagining (having experienced it twice now) what the displacement of all my organs looks like.  Because, believe me, they move.  Muscle memory is amazing.  I can feel all my womb's fellow internals preparing already, which is much earlier than with the other two.  The body remembers; it has been through this before and recognizes the current state of affairs, and it knows full well what is to come.  I can feel things shifting already. 

From Lennart Nilsson's A Child Is Born

Now, I'm at about 17 weeks.  This is probably a good estimate of what my baby looks like right about now.  I've been able to feel it move a few times.  It's quite exciting.  Last night, the kids and I were playing with the stethoscope to see if we could hear anything.  We heard some sounds, but weren't sure if they were the baby or my own body.

I feel so thankful to be able to take time to connect, with my own body, and with the little spirit who is taking form in me now.  And indeed, I feel thankful to do it one more time.  It is a truly miraculous experience, all of it, the pregnancy, the labor, the birth, and birthing of oneself as a mother, even when it's not the first time. 

When I was pregnant with Adobe, there was so much going on, I was so busy, that I don't feel like I really was able to take much time to connect with myself and the little baby inside of me.  I was finishing my Fine Arts degree at the Corcoran, teaching tap 6 days a week and running my performance company, dcArtistry:tap&drum - basically running non-stop like a chicken with my head cut off.  Plus, there was a lot of turmoil in my personal life.  With Phoenix, things were much more stable, and a bit calmer, but I still don't feel like I really took the time to connect with my self and my baby the way I could have.

Fortunately, with both of them, the labor and birth, despite being quite long, were awesome.  Home birth with both, over two weeks 'past due date' with both, over 24 hours labor with both after a month of practice contractions, and Phoenix was born in water.  All quite hard work, and exhausting, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  I'm planning another water birth at home and drawing on some new inner resources this time.  It would be nice if things move along a little quicker this time.  You know what they say, "third time's a charm."

Another thing that will bring me a special connection this time around:  I've decided, with enthusiastic encouragement from local midwife Tammi McKinley, to offer childbirth classes specifically geared toward women/couples who plan to birth either at home or a birth center.  The classes will incorporate body-mind connection, visualization, art, spirituality, and ceremony/ritual, with influences from various resources, as well as my own research and experiences.  I'm developing my curriculum now, and plan to launch this fall.  (See boundlessbirth.com ).  I will continue to offer my photography services, as well as Reiki for women & babies, and individualized art sessions.  More on all that to come. 

return to freedom

After a foray into the public school system, we have joyfully returned to freedom.  This is something that is hard for many people to understand... why we do it, and what it really looks like.  There is no need for anyone to take offense, or think that I'm implying you're wrong if you choose to send your child to school like most of the population.  

     Simply consider that one very important word:  choice.  We all do what we must do, and most importantly, what feels right for ourselves and our families.  There are many different approaches to parenting, teaching, and learning.  I don't feel that I have to explain or justify my choice to anyone; however, I'd like to try to help those I love who don't quite 'get it' by painting a clearer picture of this whole scenario.  I'll have much more to say on the subject in the future, but for now, I thought it might be useful to begin with a few good notes and metaphors I found this morning as I was browsing around.  

     There is a movement called 'unschooling' which some people think is totally outrageous and really can't comprehend.  While I wouldn't say that we are complete unschoolers (yet?), it makes alot of sense to me and greatly influences the way we live.  

So, what does that mean and what does it look like?

From childplay.wordpress.com:

What unschooling is:

holistic

comprehensive

relevant

child led

passion driven

exploratory

What unschooling isn't:

standardized

cookie cutter

linear (or, maybe it is, depending on the kid!)

negligent

unlearning

lazy

     Meredith, another unschooling mom who moderates the Always Unschooled listserve, says to a newbie mom trying to envision what this is: "You might also find it helpful to do some reading on the theory of Multiple Intelligences, and also personality styles, since personality plays a big part in the specifics of how people learn.  But probably the biggest thing to know about learning is that it looks like life.  People learn as a function of living life - we're designed to learn.  Our own internal drives push us to go on exploring and discovering - it's part of human nature itself.

   A big part of learning is making mistakes!  That's an idea school trains out of us, but discovering is all about running into something new, something that challenges our expectations or doesn't turn out the way we think.  

   One of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is the safety to make mistakes.  We get to be their soft place to fall, the person who helps them regroup and try another idea, the person who can offer other ideas without insisting our ideas are better.  That's challenging!  We soooo want to be able to offer the fruits of our own learning to our kids so that they don't Have to make the same mistakes we did.  It's a little humbling to realize that sometime they actually want to (not all the time, but especially as my kids get older I see them not wanting my ideas and perspectives so much any more - they want to do it their own way, even if it's harder that way)!"

     This was written by a mom, Debra Rossing, on one of the listserves to which I subscribe: 

"Maybe this image will help:  In the traditional schooling model, you are served a pre-decided meal (like a prix fixe dinner at a fancy restaurant - you get what someone else decided to prepare that day).  But before you even take a bite, the waitress comes over and cuts it up into specific sized pieces and then arranges it in the order that you are to eat it.  And, you must eat a certain amount of the pieces at a certain interval.  No alternating between a bite of salad and a bite of potato, no lingering over a particularly tasty bit of tomato, it must be eaten in the proper sequence and timing.  Meanwhile, your dinner companions are each served something else, based on criteria of age and where they grew up.  Even if their food looks interesting, you aren't to share bites from other plates, unless of course, you finish all the requisite bites for this time period that are on your plate and ask the waitress for a bite of something else you've seen.  After each set group of bites, the waitress comes over and asks you question about what you ate and you need to be able to answer the way she expects - if the soup was too salty for you, but it was salted "correctly" you have to say it was salted correctly, even if you didn't like it.  Periodically, they bring medical equipment over to the table to make sure you are properly digesting what you've been eating.

   Alternatively, natural learning (aka unschooling) is more like being at a grand buffet.  You can choose what and when and how much.  If the serving utensils are a bit cumbersome for you, people are there to assist.  If you're unsure about how to carve yourself a piece of the roast chicken, ask someone and they'll show you how and/or guide you in doing so.  If you want more peas but no more potatoes right now, that's fine.  If you want to eat each individual pea separately, to enjoy the taste and texture, great.  If you ONLY eat peas for a while, then switch to ONLY cantaloup, then have a mixed plate of cold veggies, salad style, fine and dandy.  And if one of your dining companions has something on their plate you've never seen before or tried, you might ask to taste it.  If you see something at the buffet and don't know what it is, you can ask and someone will describe/explain it to you, making comparisons/contrasts to other foods on your plate(s).  'That's a lychee.  It's similar in taste/texture to a bit of canned pear but not exactly the same.  Still fairly mild in flavor and a little sweet but not as sweet as something like a strawberry.'  If you decide to simply sit back and observe the environment for a bit, that's fine, there's no time requirement on your eating." 

To wrap it up for today, here's a copy of the 'Curriculum Description' I submitted today to Arlington County as part of my Notice of Intent to homeschool my child, and below that a highlight from our week.

"Our curriculum is self-designed to include the major areas of academic study in an age- and level-appropriate manner—language arts and mathematics, physical and social sciences, history, geography, and anything else that surfaces as an interest.  Largely using an inquiry-based approach, we call on a wide and varied list of resources including books, workbooks, the internet, online curriculums, videos, workshops, classes, museums, galleries, field trips, nature, our community, collaboration with other families, travel, and conversation with people of all ages.  Visual and performing arts are often integrated into our learning processes and can spontaneously provide intriguing starting points for further probing into specific aspects of any of the academic study areas.  Part of my approach in educating my child is to take into account the seven intelligences as defined by Howard Gardner—the idea that “all human beings are capable of at least seven different ways of knowing the world…. language; logical-mathematical analysis; spatial representation; musical thinking; the use of the body to solve problems or to make things; an understanding of other individuals; and an understanding of ourselves.”

            Our in-home learning consists of various activities including but not limited to: reading, workbook pages—both published and self-designed, creative writing, cooking, sewing, gardening, cleaning, computer games, blogging, piano lessons, art projects, science projects, singing, dancing, spanish practice; creative play & role-playing; elaborate character development & set-building; shooting photography & video; and art & music workshops which I teach, with other homeschooling families joining us.  Activities outside of the home include ice skating, dance classes, gymnastics, art, drama, nature center classes, survival skills classes, and whatever else arises of interest.  While we have specific blocks of time in the home each weekday that are specified ‘lesson time’, we live in such a way that learning is a natural, organic, always-happening, ongoing process—an exciting part of everyday life!"

On Monday, we took a field trip with a few friends to the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Center - an awesome kids' spot in Winchester that is very similar to the Children's Museum in DC (now closed down.)

Here is Phoenix trying on an oxygen mask at the 'hospital'.

Then there is Adobe pushing her friend Lucca in the wheelchair.  The place was small, but the kids had such a blast!  There was so much to do... There was a replica of a Native American longhouse, a climbing wall, an ambulance and hospital, a library, all types of cool hands-on science stuff, a cider factory, an 'infinity mirror', a fun house mirror, a place where you could build a house, a large version of a honeycomb that you could climb inside of, and on...

I'm loving life; it feels so good having my two munchkins together again...

(photos © artis mooney 2010)

today was a good day

Beautiful Adobe woke up wart-free this morning.  Our beautiful girl developed a wart on her chin some months ago.  First it appeared as a tiny little bump, and then it grew, and grew, and grew.  Atom teased her that she got it from being mean to her parents.  She was very self-conscious about it.  So, last night Atom proved his skills as family surgeon.  He very carefully cut it off with an Exacto blade.  Yes.  I know it sounds crazy, but it barely hurt her at all, and it seems to have worked like a charm.  So that was great, because it made her so happy that it was gone.
   I've been in a bit of a funk recently - I think partly that the suffering of the world has been weighing heavily on my heart.  But today was a pretty good day.  Trying to stay in the moment helps me so much.  Phoenix and I went to visit with our mama friend Jeneen and our two smaller friends Haiku & Rilke.  It was kind of a surreal morning somehow.  We haven't seen them in over a year, and it was very grounding.  On the way there, I was listening to WPFW & they happened to have a show which was addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  Atom & I have been talking about that recently, & I've realized that I know very little about what is at the heart of the conflict.  So I turn on the radio, & there was a program that helped make the whole picture a bit clearer to me.  Then, I was very moved by something the hostess said at the end of the broadcast, which is that the people have Haiti have paid a great sacrifice - the souls who gave their lives in this catastrophe have brought people together, united the human family in compassionate acts to help our fellow brothers and sisters, whether we send them food, money, doctors, or our love & prayers.  And that is exactly what humanity needs right now, solidarity, compassion, empathy, love, and peace and justice, which are much harder to obtain.
   So I really appreciated what she had to say, & then we had a wonderful morning with the munchkins, playing at their house, snacking, chatting, strolling, & exploring down by the creek... For a little while, it was raining little ice balls & then started to snow, big fat wet clusters gently floating down through the sky.  Wish I'd gotten a picture dangit!  It was captivating.     
   Then we had some lunch together, Phoenix and I came home (he was screaming & crying - he did not want to leave, but passed out within 5 minutes of being in the car), I did some work, picked up Adobe from the bus stop, invited one of Adobe's newer best friends Katy over, all went for a treat at the local coffee shop.... Then we came back here, the kids got to play, Atom & I hung out in the studio for a long while diggin' deep in conversation while he tidied up & worked on a xylophone he's making from wrenches, ordered some Thai food, and little Miss Adobe got to have Katy spend the night.
  Yeah.  It was a good day.  And now, I'm exhausted.  Time to fold up.

boundless voice beginnings

this is a test of the artismooney broadcasting system...

i've been wanting to start a public blog, even though as yet i barely have time to publish to my personal blog, and make changes to my website.

but i have to do it. i have so much going on in my head all the time that i want to write about. and as my other blog and website are made with iweb, i figured i'd check out this blogger thing and see how i like the format.

if you happen to be stumbling upon this, here, sometime in the future, you will find ramblings about all manner of things, including holistic health practices, musings on politics, childrearing, 'homeschooling', teaching, the history of institutionalized schooling, the (brief) history of institutionalized childbirth, love, travel, daydreams, food as medicine, adventures with my art & photography,... the possibilities are boundless.

in the meantime, check out my website, www.artismooney.com to see some of my art & photography and learn a little more about me.