Creating a Personal Curriculum
Apparently it’s the start of a new school year AND Labor Day weekend, though it’s really hard to tell up here in New Hampshire, where it has felt like fall since we arrived a few weeks ago.
(In my home state of North Carolina, fall might arrive around late October, if you’re lucky.)
Up here, the leaves have already started to change- look!
New England is so spooooooky!
Teaching and/or working in the school system for a bazillion years meant that the start of a new school year was always filled with promise. I know I’m not the first to express this sentiment, right?
There is just something about a shiny new pencil case and empty spiral notebooks that feels like magic.
Truth be told, now that we are retired I find that I really miss being part of the start of the school year- I miss trying out new teaching methods, introducing students to fun books and of course learning new things myself.
Plus, Ryan and I just listened to this podcast episode about how dangerous it is to retire early because your brain basically turns to mush when you stop using it (through work) and you are doomed to live a sad and mushy-brained life forever after if you don’t start working on your brain fitness!
So what’s the solve, you ask? Enter the personal curriculum!
I’m not sure when or how I first heard about this term, but I really love it. You mean I can just learn about things I’m super interested in by designing a loose study path and going out and buying myself books or knitting supplies, as the case may be?
THIS is abundance, friends.
I’m not going to get super technical about what exactly social media says a personal curriculum is, because who cares. You can google it (or whatever) if you desire. There are even some sweet templates out there for designing a very pretty-to-look-at personal curriculum which could be fun.
My official personal curriculum is really just some vague notes in a google doc, which proves that it can really be whatever you want. So let’s get into it!
First, I’ll share what I’m learning about, and then I’ll give you some pointers to create your own PC (which stands for ‘personal curriculum’ for the newly initiated- which is now you!)
My PC
There are three topics that I’m digging into for my PC. Yours may just have one, and that’s totally cool too. When you design your own PC, there are no rules!
Here’s what I’m learning about:
Carl Jung: I joined this year long book study with Satya Doyle Byock of Carl Jung’s Red Book because I’ve been doing shadow & inner child work since 2019, but always struggled with the concept of the shadow. So why not go directly to the source?
I’ve written about the class before, but it fills me up in a way I can’t really describe- partially because I’m so hungry for OTHER PEOPLE (Ryan is great but this is definitely a lack we both note currently) and this virtual classroom is brimming with mostly older-than-me women. There’s nothing I love more than digging into the depths of spirituality and humanity with folks wiser than me, and this class has that in spades.
Scottish folklore, magic and myth: This started more broadly as an interest in Celtic mythology, but it turns out that is way too broad and amorphous, so I focused it a bit. It was tricky to find a good starting place, but after googling around and reading some Reddit threads, I landed on the book you see above.
A fun, unexpected twist is that the book starts with a bit of Scottish history, starting with the Reformation and the ways in which it separated the working classes of Scotland (and Europe more broadly) from their folk beliefs and mother nature herself. The author’s theory is that this split is what ultimately led us to the climate crisis we have today- if we had never been separated from our knowledge and reverence for the earth, perhaps we wouldn’t be treating her like our own private dumpster?
Just something light to ponder.
Knitting: I’ve been knitting flat things, like scarves and blankets, on and off since my year in Colorado in the early aughts- but I’ve always been fascinated with (read: terrified to try) the more difficult techniques like the cable stitch and knitting in the round.
But BEHOLD, friends! See that sweet little blue knit up there? That is a cable stitch! How cool is that? I knitted that tiny morsel over the span of a feverish long afternoon a few days ago, and ever since have been passing it by with a soft caress or just gazing at it for uncomfortably long periods with wonder.
It still doesn’t make total sense in my head how a cable stitch works, but that isn’t necessary. My heart still bursts with joy.
Now, it could be quite possible that you are looking at these three topics and thinking, “None of this sounds fun/interesting/worth my time, etc.”
That’s the wonder of the PC! It’s personal to you!
So here’s how to create your own:
What is the topic or topics that make your body say “hmmmm?”
If you are unfamiliar (or too busy too feel) this sensation, for me it feels like a gentle little tug forward in my chest or sweet tum-tum. I also literally make a sound, like “hmmmm!” or “huh.”
I don’t need to know why knitting a cable stitch makes me so excited, and it doesn’t need to come to any appreciable conclusion or become a business or whatever else.
It’s total and complete function is the opportunity it gives me to act on those “hmmm” feelings that my body is giving me. That’s it!
So now you have your topics. What comes next?
Because I have too much free time at the moment, I wanted to set some guidelines around my studies. The Carl Jung book study has a built-in timeline because I’m not running the show. So that one is taken care of.
When it came to learning about Scottish myth, I didn’t want a due date to finish that book. There is too much goodness in it, and the author weaves in references to other books on the same topic- which I’m taking note of. The guidelines there are just that I will continue reading and following those crumbs until I’m no longer interested.
The one goal I did set for myself is that by the “end” of my studies, I’d have a basic knowledge of the core myths, gods and goddesses that make up Scottish folk mythology. I suspect it will go a ways beyond that but who can tell?
Knitting was the easy one. When I decided I would learn some new techniques, I put a due date on the scarf I was working on at the time. This is mostly because I was too excited about the cable stitch to wait too long, and I wanted to get on with it.
My goal to finish the scarf was September 4 and I finished a day early. Who are we to resist the siren song of the cable stitch? An act of futility if there ever was one.
At this point you have your topics and potentially some guidelines around each one. You’ve written them down somewhere. You’re really getting serious!
Now for the very very fun part- what supplies do you need to pursue your studies? In which space will you be pursuing them? And when?
Make a list, check it twice and get ye to your closest bookstore, yarn store, or whatever!
Clear off a spot in your home, or take note of a great coffee shop you could visit once a week to soak up your PC studies. Make sure there is time blocked on your calendar for these pursuits- and stick to it like you would a dentist appointment.
A close friend is thinking of adding weightlifting to her PC. She has her topic (weight lifting) and her space (the gym she can walk to from her house) AND she bought a cute paper calendar that hangs next to her desk where she can mark off her weightlifting days.
This is prioritizing oneself, friends. You love to see it.
So what might be on your Personal Curriculum?
Remember- nothing is too small, too trivial or too silly. In fact- the sillier the better! Share your ideas below and let’s expand each other and get excited for each other too.