unschooling

, , , ,

Just Go: Full Surrender to Adventure

, , , ,

In true Ladye fashion, I recently made a BIG jump. We (as in my two younger kids and I) have already been unschooling and traveling more often over the last few years as I’ve been running my creative business in a way that supports flexibility. Now, we’re kicking the adventure up a notch! As things have shifted in my career recently and nudged me to expand my online business, ideas and intentions are coming full circle. It’s time to put this Rambling Hippie show on the ROAD!

The plan in late 2019 was to launch Rambling Hippie and travel domestically in an RV/AirBnbs for a year or so while unschooling/roadschooling, then move on with other plans from there. After a major pivot during the pandemic where I changed careers, moved, gave birth to my baby girl AND a new business endeavor - our travel year dreams were postponed. I figured when my oldest son graduates HS in a couple years, we’d move out of our home, put our things in storage and hit the road for several months…deciding in that time where to buy land and settle down. *If you’re interested, there’s two old blogs about this: Unschooling Dreams and Travel in the Time of Corona

Fast forward a bit-
I’ve been doing business primarily in the Oklahoma canna**s industry for the last four years. I’m very passionate about plant medicine and the work I do to support it, and building a business in this space has been freeing and life changing in so many positive ways. However, with increasing regulatory changes and a number of other industry-wide issues, it has also become a very unstable market and many, if not most of us left have been feeling the squeeze. So while I still love working with my canna**s business clients, I’m shifting to more remote work and offering courses, guides and intuitive coaching for those ready to radically transform themselves and/or their way of doing business.

Digital Marketing Course

Working remotely

Rambling Hippie Weekly Planner

In this transition, big decisions have needed to be made. After much prayer, fasting and meditation, I accepted that the best decision for me and little family in this season was to put our household things in storage and embark on our Rambling Hippie adventures sooner than later. Although not perfectly planned or under the best cirumstances, this decision relieves a significant financial load while giving me the mental and physical wiggle room to get some big projects off the ground. We still have a landing pad in OKC and will be around each month to serve local clients, but we will be also on the road about half of the time.

Can't believe I fit the contents of my entire life in here

Locked and loaded, ready for launch

We’ve already embarked on the first leg of our journey, and will post blogs and content about our travels and adventures! (First trip recap coming soon!) If you’d like to follow along be sure you’re subscribed to e-mail updates. For more real-time content, follow Rambling Hippie on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

If you’d like to support our adventures, I’d LOVE for you to book an intuitive guidance session with me, purchase my digital products or cop some merchandise! I also humbly accept donations sent to $ramblinghippie / @ramblinghippie.

Thanks for simply being here! If you’d like to share what you like about Rambling Hippie and the kinds of content or information you enjoy most or want to see, feel free to drop a comment!

Love, light, and shadow,
Ladye

“There are multiple paths to the same destination.”
— Ladye, Rambling Hippie
, ,

Comprehensive Audible List: My Personal Self-Empowerment Library

, ,

In 2015 shortly after having my second child, I was at a cross-roads in my life. A lot of things seemed to be not working and I was ready to transcend my unfulfilling reality. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, unhappy in my work and relationships, and feeling like I was being called to be a completely different version of myself as a woman, mother, and divine being.

As a pastor's kid and grandkid, this part of my journey led me back to church and deeper into biblical texts and Christian-based books. The more I read and listened to books about Jesus and spiritual freedom, the more I could see that something else was happening.. for the first time in my life I allowed myself to question my beliefs without shame or guilt. I was losing my religion, finding my truest self, and embracing deeper, bigger truths about my personal reality and everything/everyone around me.

This path led me to knowledge about fasting (which I will talk about in another post), meditating, giving up old ways of thinking, doing, and being. I embraced my unbecomin, my deprogramming, and the possibility that all I had learned in church/scripture growing up was merely part of a much bigger truth.

I don't remember exactly how I found Audible. Aside from indulging in several WWII books as a child, I was never really a big reader. Few topics were able to keep my attention, as I found myself getting bored or rereading the same lines over and over trying to process and remember. Audiobooks unlocked a whole new world for me. I started listening to them at work and in the car, and found myself more focused on tasks, less bored with my work, and growing into a more empowered version of myself all simultaneously.

Very early in my Audible journey, a good friend of mine and someone I respect greatly suggested the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. If you've read The Alchemist, you know that although it is fiction, it contains a message of truth that calls for your spirit to realize itself. That is exactly what started to happen for me. After digesting this title, it was like I jumped into a rabbit hole of learning, healing, journeying through my spirit, finding love in the places that previously hurt, getting my sh*t together and embracing the notion that my life was about to radically change.

This was the beginning of a painful season of falling apart so I could ultimately become something greater. I want to share with you many of the titles I've listened to from 2016 to now, as they have impacted me in ways I may never have words to accurately describe. These books (in addition to those I physically read) carried me through myself, through my dark nights of the soul, through my triumphs over sadness and despair, and lifted my soul as no one or no thing ever had.

My personal Audible list contains a range of genres, not just self-help or books on spirituality. Some are novels, some financial how-to's, history, political memoirs, religious texts, regenerative agriculture, psychology, psychedelics etc. I've left out several business and niche-specific titles, though I may put together a separate list for those later. Together, they form a library of thought that comes together beautifully to assist in my unlearning and relearning. It's a fairly long list (90 titles currently), so I hope you find some wisdom here. As with anything I share, please take what resonates and leave what doesn't.

If you have already read or listened to any of these books, or if you do so after reading this, and were/are as deeply impacted as I, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. I'll update it semi-frequently to keep the list current.

Love, light, and truth to you all <3, Ladye

RAMBLING HIPPIE AUDIBLE LIST

Titles listed in the chronological order in which I consumed them.

, ,

Unschooling Goals: Turning My Daydreams Into a Rambling Reality

, ,

Have you ever paid attention to the feeling you get when you think of a person, place, career, or future possibilities that excite you? Maybe it’s my personality type or something, but I can point out certain things in my life that I’ve learned about and they instantly resonated with me on a deep, sometimes unexplainable level.

As an adult, I’ve come to connect this feeling with things or subjects that are somehow in line with my purpose - aligned with who I am at my core. I’ve experienced this feeling countless times with many things in my life, and I’ll write about those in a later post.

The more I grow and detach from insignificant societal norms and become more aware of myself and the world that could be, the more authentic I feel I am becoming.

Something is happening in my soul.

I find myself dreaming of, journaling, and talking with the Universe more and more about homeschooling my son(s) (unschooling, adventure schooling, road-schooling, etc.) and traveling on a semi-full-time basis. I know more families are doing this now, but most still consider it a pretty radical thing to do.

I told myself 2020 is the year it is going to start, and you guys…my planner and notebook are packed with plans down to the tiniest details. I’m talking vintage RV style…a Rambling Hippie on a mission! It’s something I have fantasized and talked with friends/family about doing for years, but it seemed like such a distant dream, yet alone a real possibility within the next few years.

If all of these self-development and entrepreneurial books I’ve been reading over the last 5 years have taught me anything, it’s that if you want something, you write it down and get serious about a plan..you may be surprised how quickly it will manifest.

I blame this vision of traveling and unschooling on the incredible experiences and insight my grandparents provided me with as a kid, my liberating solo trip to Palo Duro Canyon for my 26th birthday, my ‘86 Volvo station wagon (RIP Pearly), my mom, and the following books in the order in which I read them. All are available on Audible btw - click here to purchase a gift membership for someone to inspire them, or on one of the links below to start your free trial.

…along with countless hours spent researching and reading articles about American school systems and the alternatives, listening to podcasts, reading forums, Facebook group discussions about homeschool and RV living, and just being a whole damn hippie at heart. *Side note - and I love side notes - I believe we’re all hippies at heart, craving love and peace, but that’s another talk.

“ I’m just making my way home. I’m on a path leading to the me I was meant to be,
before external factors and limiting beliefs hindered my greatness.”
— Ladye M

Since I had my firstborn almost twelve years ago, I’ve known I wanted to expose him to more of the world, more culture, more history, bigger ideas. I believe exposure to diversity at a young age - whether through experiencing diverse cultures and religions, history, landscapes, ideas, etc. - when seen through a perspective of love and acceptance (this is where parents/teachers come in), is an effective catalyst to positive change. I didn’t get much of that growing up in the Rural South and it is absolutely something I want for my children, grandchildren, and so on.

I long to give my kids meaningful and impactful experiences in this life. I want them to see love (or God/the Universe if you will) in every human, every animal, every landscape. I want us to cultivate love and change together, even if on a small scale. And yes, I realize this sounds like a romantic hippie dream at this point, but I know the BTS work and at times, utter discomfort that this will require.

How can I turn this daydream into a reality?

Initially I couldn’t quite visualize what unschooling while traveling would look like. Like..do I have to buy a big truck and camper and go back to my country roots to make this a real and comfortable-for-the-kids possibility? Staying in short term apartments or Airbnb’s in different places sounds too irresponsible for a single mother (major eyeroll here).. or at least it would to my family and likely my son’s dad.

So how can I make it happen before my kids are grown? Well, I think I know just the way.

If all goes according to plan - and trust me, I am entirely prepared for many things to not go according to plan - this new reality will kick off with a Spring Break trial run, after which I will share my soon-to-be-excecuted two-year travel plan with deets! (People still say deets, right? IDK…I’m in this Awkward Millenial phase where I’m not quite sure which slang is current and which is outdated.)

I will def be back here for more talks on the subject.

If you or someone you know has gone full-time RV or van life, drop a comment and let me know your take. I love hearing different perspectives and pros and cons! Also, if you’re interested in more of my Audible recommendations, let me know.

Love and light,
Ladye