The Art Garage

This is being written post-event.  I am really in a transition and feeling the pangs of uncertainty and the resistance to letting go of something that is no longer aligned with the vision.  We had the usual BBQ and Tie-Dye since the Art Garage fell on the 3rd of July.  Usually these events would bring out all the neighborhood kids, who were looking to celebrate something and didn't have anywhere to really do so.

The Art Garage was in its inception an organic gathering of neighborhood kids.  I never advertised.  It wasn't on FaceBook.  In the beginning there wasn't even a set schedule of activities.  The kids just showed up.  They told each other about it, and they came and went as they pleased.  Over the years, it became more formalized.  Activities were planned, and the time was set, but there were always informal events, and there were always options to do other activites.

Now having switched locations, everything is different.  The feeling is different.  The location is in a business, not a house.  It is surrounded by businesses, not homes with kids.  Bottom line, I need a different approach.

So the plan is to become more of a clubhouse.  I have already started some homeschooling here, and it is quite successful.  It is amazing in fact.  To take those who are so sick of school and see them get excited to learn again.  To realize that no one will force them, but they can explore their interests and be supported in that path.  It is really what I am meant to do.  So what about the Art Garage?

I think it has to go on the back-burner for a moment.  I am feeling the call to create something more structured, or singleness of purpose.  Like a youth club. It will have to be loosely formalized. It will have to have a set time, and a set limited group of kids.  It should have a general age range.  All of these will be a new challenge for me.

I already have a few ideas, new challenges are good.