Back

Climbing in Caen of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Apr 16, 2023· 2 minutes

We went to Caen to climb with the other families, and it was a wonderful climbing facility. We have not done climbing before, as only one of us is really into physical challenges, and I am so grateful for this context in which we did it as the teenagers here are the sweetest and most caring beings. They kindly showed my son around and taught him how to get started. In this group, no one is showing off.

No one is trying to rise by stepping on others or harming others. It is all kindness and respect.

I sat for a good 3 hours, having lovely conversations and enjoying the sight of these kids. My teenagers had left the building to go for a walk with another part of the group.

It is strange for me to visit a city and not go for the cathedral, the monuments, the street art. But I like how this experience challenged our “normal,” and I am grateful we went climbing.

When a large group arrived, we left as it felt crowded.

I love how living based in the van equals having our house with us all the time. We left and made a brown rice salad, did some second-hand shop shopping, and went for a short and fast walk before we drove back to the castle.

To be challenged into a comfort zone is a very healthy thing. When we do things we would normally not do, we discover new elements of our vulnerability and sometimes new strengths.

Even in our lifestyle, we seem to fall into habits, and though they might be good, it is always healthy to challenge them, to stop and think about them, to learn new ways, and get new ideas.

The coloring castle experience of coordinating with so many other families really is challenging, all in the best of ways.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

# 116 of my 2023 writing challenge - Read them all here


Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our life like this, and we get very happy when we get feedback from you. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 
During D-day, one of the parachuters had the bad luck of getting stuck hanging from the church tower. As the village at the time was taken over by th…Read more
To be challenged into a comfort zone is a very healthy thing. When we do things we would normally not do, we discover new elements of our vulnerabili…Read more
The way history is taught in schools, dripping from a curriculum, emerging from books written for “children” underestimating their intelligence will,…Read more
Just like the Hotel Beaumont was in many ways a re-play, we can never enter the same river twice, and watching Star Wars with Fjord was like visiting…Read more
It is so lovely to see a group of teenagers not afraid to show up in their nightgown, not afraid to be silly, not afraid to wear a pink unicorn jumps…Read more
Free play is at the center of Peter Gray's thinking, and I agree very much, especially with the “free” element. Play is this funny adult construction…Read more
On my birthday, honestly, a few days ago, as I was “falling behind,” I did not have to plan anything. The castle stay is already a party, and there i…Read more
What if math was voluntary? What if we recognize the fact that all math, including high school level, can be learned by a motivated person in 3 month…Read more
Children are fed into the schooling machine, and inside that machine is an agenda, a vast and complex and not very transparent secret agenda called T…Read more