Looking back at 4 years of self-directed studies

Over the last 4 years I have had many beautiful, challenging and transformative experiences outside of the ‘traditional education system’. Most of the time I ‘just’ lived these experiences, not sharing too much about them on social media. However, recently I feel a need to share more about it, and about my lifestyle in general.

Mainly because I feel a need for reflecting and sharing this with the people around me. But also because I personally missed some examples of people embracing different lifestyles and pathways, than the ‘going to university’ pathway. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but because that pathway is shared so often, it becomes the norm. Therefore doing anything outside of school-university- job, becomes difficult to imagine. At least it was for me.

I see people around me graduating and getting jobs. Sometimes that does trigger some insecurities and makes me feel uncertain about this path. However, when I look back at all the things I have done and learned, I feel incredibly grateful. It feels daring, bold, scary and naked to live this life. I feel challenged and inspired every time I go back to my intention and direct my life in that way, rather than focusing on the expectations around me. And I am grateful for all the people that mirror me, inspire me, challenge me and give me a sense of belonging.

In the end that is what I feel called to. A path of experience based, self-directed and community supported learning which nourishes my purpose. Although that sentence contains too many buzzwords in one sentence, it does feel like something that works for me. Something that feels authentic and that I would like to share about more often.