Hi Friend,
In my last email, I mentioned that I have what I, growing up, called a learning disability, and what is now more commonly known as being on the spectrum of neurological divergences.
I mentioned how I spent hours engaging with how my brain worked. Mostly, with what institutions (public middle schools and high schools) needed to give me appropriate accommodations, etc etc. because I'm super smart and have pretty high verbal processing abilities, many of my teachers and my fellow students did not believe I had anything 'wrong' with me - until they saw my test scores.
I don't know, now, if I even know/understand how much I learned from that whole experience.
Like: there are so many ways of learning. Maybe you are familiar with the big ones: kinesthetic (tactile/experiential). visual. auditory.
Most people learn through a combination of these. I lean towards kinesthetic learning styles - I tend to learn through tactile and movement. My mom said that's why I always wanted to touch things when I went places. Which, on school trips to museums, frequently did not go over well! And it's probably part of why my school counselors encouraged me to go into bodywork - which was really, a good suggestion!
But we live in a culture that still values the work of the mind over the work of the body (though how much will AI change that? Such a fascinating question....)
One of the things I learned real fast was that much of what I was learning in going to counselors and getting "special help" (ugh - that word - *special*....) was actually really useful for a lot of kids. aka for a lot of "normal" people.
Most people are never asked how they learn (and some people don't know for themselves), They never get a chance to shape their learning in a way that works for their learning style.
I was unbelievably fortunate that my parents never doubted my intelligence, regardless of my test scores. And they told me in many, many different ways that my brain was different - and that difference made a difference. It was neither 'right' nor 'wrong'. I saw the world literally differently than the people around me did.
And that was both an advantage and a liability/challenge.
Some of my strongest gifts - my ability to make connections and sense patterns - came right out of the same way-of-seeing-the-world that caused some of my greatest challenges - my near-inability to tick boxes, keep numbers in their separate places on a page, and follow step-by-step directions.
None of it was "wrong."
I saw how many kids fell through cracks.... in part because the system just isn't designed for them. Many of them blamed themselves. Many adults have a lot of stories about what it means to "learn" and to "get things right" and to "do it right" that are streaked through with various forms of anxiety and self-doubt and self-sabotage.
When I started teaching the ReMembering Course, I was surprised at how many people appreciated the way and the how of my pedagogical style. "This is what I wanted higher ed to be", they would say. Some of them even had PhDs! They yearned for processes that connect head, heart, spirit, and hands.
If this is appealing to you, please do check out our upcoming ReMembering Course - the informational webinar is later today! Our next course starts Friday, Oct 25.
When Krissy and I started co-teaching, we got similar responses - even more so. Krissy has 20 years of experience working in the schools... and she has the rare opportunity to work with kids across grade levels and across learning abilities. She is really adept at helping people learn in ways that work well for them.
A skill that many adults are missing .... especially when it comes to subjects that are emotionally-laden and filled with consequences.
Such as Accounting.
When we started working together, early on, I showed her my accounting books. I admit, I was a bit nervous. I mean, she was a professional in this space... I was then one who had been through a bunch of self-help programs that eventually got me to be able to manage budgets and grow my business. (Adding columns of numbers is like NOT what I'm good at. Thank goodness for excellent sheets!)
Krissy meanwhile has these really beautiful spreadsheets. She is, basically, something of a whiz with spreadsheets and creating equations in excel.
Looking at my spreadsheets, she said, you know, this is definitely unconventional. But it works. I see how it works for you. So, keep going!
Yay!
That's part of what we are bringing to the Account-ability course.
The next one is coming up - right now, we are keeping these super short.
This one has two parts.
Part one (end of Sept) is primarily co-working with an element of discussion. Some talk, but mostly - bring a few items around accounting that you want to get done, and you won't have to do them alone!
And then, about 2 weeks later, right at the beginning of the final quarter of the business year, we will have a more discussion-focused session that includes a much smaller amount of co-working. Co-working on things that you might tend to avoid is so helpful and is one of the many, many skills I learned as part of learning how to work better with my own brain.
Cuz - it's not just you.
For all of your beautiful brains, beautiful bodies, and beautiful hearts -
✨✨✨
Sara Jolena
