Life as Project

When I worked as a teacher and co-director in an alternative school, a school of child-centered education, holistic and organic, we used learning projects as the basis of our pedagogy.

The idea of projects appealed greatly to me and I began to see the various fields of endeavour of my life as projects.

The thing that I really like about a project is that is is an ongoing experiment. It is a process of trying things out because they are interesting. It is not a 'have to.' It is done for the sake of doing it.

So, in the context of a project, there is no success or failure as we usually define these. There is learning. As part of my vast project of creating a garden on these ten acres where I live, I planted some hollyhock seeds that I bought from a woman on Etsy. I could have purchased hollyhock plants at the plant nursery, but I prefer the single bloom heirloom varieties and in the plant nurseries, all they offer are the double bloom modern hybrids. I planted 24 seeds and 3 tiny little plants emerged. 3 out of 24 doesn't seem like a very good outcome, but I have learned from this experience. I planted the seeds a bit too deep into the soil. I'll know to do it differently next time.

And so it is with all projects. There is development of the project. There is learning and becoming. There is growth and development. The project has a beginning and it may eventually come to an ending of sorts as well. But it is more likely to be an organic part of the whole that you are. There is change, shift, adjustment and redeployment. The flow continues.

I have come to see all that I undertake as a series of projects. I have so many projects now! And all of them enrich my life. Each of them adds to my experience of the world.

In a very real way, my whole life is a project.