Six years ago, I started the journey into Waldorf education and became a teacher at a private school in northern California. Six years ago was when I also first posted to this blog (178 blog posts!). I had shared my thoughts and experiences in Waldorf and the gems of family life. This year, I shifted my professional life away from being a full time Waldorf teacher, and it just feels right that I now close the book on The Waldorf Way.
Being on the Waldorf way was like riding a bike with training wheels. After discovering how to ride, you're supposed to take them off. The Waldorf training wheels gave me the confidence to explore interesting pathways. The transition without the trainers is exciting and I picture Rudolf Steiner as the proud parent who gives that one final steady hand and push off. He smiles as I ride away, knowing he helped me gain the confidence to find my own balance and my own path.
This new path is being a teacher and tutor for homeschool families. It is being a consultant and instructor for public Waldorf educators. These systems of education are at the forefront of twenty-first century philosophy, and augments the myriad of choices families have in their children's education.
My own path means expanding my thinking, feeling, and doing. It means applying Waldorf beyond Waldorf. It means encompassing and embracing a holistic education perspective. It means striving to continually be adaptive and innovative, teaching and modeling for our children to become leaders not only for this modern time, but for the ageless world culture.
I have outgrown my own blog! I grow as my family grows, I grow as I discover my Self, I grow just as the Universe itself expands.
I look back warmly on The Waldorf Way blog - I was blessed for the medium to share with so many global communities, but now I look forward, and the journey from here is open and free. I chart my own course. I shift to a new blog that reflects the next evolution of my teaching and my family life. Without training wheels, one can really fly!!
Blessings,
Dr. Rick Tan
