By Anna Grace Awilli
COVID-19 validated the homeschooling model. Prior to this, it was regarded with skepticism and considered unrealistic, accused of isolating and shielding children from the “real world”. That it was popular with pentecostal/evangelical/Born Again christian households added to this skepticism. Yet when the lockdowns came into effect, the entire schooling system world wide basically turned to the homeschooling model. It was either that or your children did not study or they continued with the older model, which was now suddenly considered illegal.
That it took a literal shutdown of the entire world to see that the homeschooling model was not such a bizarre model after all, makes one wonder what other decisions, choices or lifestyles will forever remain unpopular, without global changes of pandemic proportions to disrupt the status quo.
What are the odds that another upheaval of pandemic proportions will happen and validate yours, my own and others’ decisions, choices and lifestyles- especially the unpopular ones? Very low, maybe even zero.
What COVID-19 did for the homeschooling model points to a reality that alot of us already know: that sometimes it is only time -not brilliant, rational or passionate arguments however right- that qualifies the ‘rightness’ of a decision, choice or lifestyle. Sometimes this validation may never even come at all. It does not mean that you are wrong. Therefore with very many viable paths, the highest form of right we may aspire to, is personal clarity of conscience and depth of conviction.
To extend this to the wider scope of life, it means that at different points in time for each of us, conformity with the status quo may be the prudent choice in one season while standing apart may be the prudent choice in another. What stepping away from the crowd offers in expression of individuality, conformity makes up for in safety and both are important for survival and execution of our longer term plans.
The idea then is to conform or to stand out according to one’s own personal clarity and deep conviction at the time. Once this has been decided, one can then from that position have the courage to not be swayed in either direction by the revolutionists clamoring for change or the conservatives seeking to maintain the status quo.
Kind regards, 💕
Anna Grace
