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Silent time | Day 166 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Jun 16, 2023· 2 minutes

🇩🇰 Also available in Danish 🇩🇰

True nomadic life is full of changes. New places. New houses. New people. New countries. New cultures. New plans. Especially new plans.

When my sister's family was leaving, we had a beautifully overstimulated chaotic morning with packing and cleaning and hugs and love.

At the same time, Liv, our oldest child, had called and needed to be picked up, so my husband left to get her at the ferry, and my other children and I kept cleaning and organizing until the house was sparkling.

Then we had silent time. Do you ever have that?

We have traveled full-time for very close to five years by now.

We have moved fast and wildly, been to many places, made loads of new friends, walked mountains and metropoles, joined festivals, and seen landmarks, pieces of art, and nature sights in the hundreds.

But silent time.

Silent time is rare.

So we sat on the sofas, picked up our books, had simple lunch in the kitchen, and sat on the couches again. Read our novels, fell asleep, and read some more. Four hours of nothing. Of silence. Of focus.

Liv arrived late afternoon. We cooked a nice dinner and sat for hours drawing all six of us.

It was silent, smiling, sharing time. Sometimes that is just the thing you need. To me, it works only because my wanderlust is being met by our lifestyle.

Before, I could hardly sit still; now, I genuinely appreciate silence and slow stuff.

Like drawing for hours.

It is some form of rebellion to stop and be silent and do simple slow stuff of no obvious value.

To the world, it seems we always have to be productive and efficient, so not doing so and being openly and on purpose silent and slow is my simple pushing back.

It might work. It works for us, and who knows?

It might be contagious.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

🇩🇰 Also available in Danish 🇩🇰

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Unschooling and Parent consulting, conversations, blogposts, and podcasts on family life and learning

Hi, I'm Cecilie Conrad. I'm a trained psychologist, mother of four, radical unschooler and full-time traveller. I have lived with unschooling for over a decade and help other families find their own path – whether it is about homeschooling, unschooling, or the bigger question of how you want to live as a family.

I offer guidance, conversations and talks. I call my work grandmothering – not coaching in the traditional sense, but presence, professional insight and concrete help navigating motherhood and finding your way home to your own values.

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